


Eggsy Unwin Body Language Analysis

by TurtleNovas



Category: Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015)
Genre: Gif heavy, Meta, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-02
Updated: 2016-01-02
Packaged: 2018-05-11 03:53:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 38,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5613019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TurtleNovas/pseuds/TurtleNovas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A meta taking an in depth look at Eggsy's body language throughout the entire film (specifically in relation to the characters of Harry, Roxy, Merlin, JB, Arthur, Dean, Gazelle, and Valentine), using gifs I made as reference points.  Very heavily saturated with Hartwin (which is why I tagged it in the Hartwin tag).</p>
            </blockquote>





	Eggsy Unwin Body Language Analysis

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally posted [here](http://turtlenovas.tumblr.com/tagged/The-Eggsy-Opus) on tumblr in 10 parts, but I've put it all together into one part here. Posting it here because someone requested it.
> 
> Please do not even consider showing this to anyone actually involved in the films. K thx.

Okay, so this is a meta I did in response to a request from [@blackmakethme](http://tmblr.co/mY5E2c54tXVdH9-zv1Cx65g) on tumblr for analysis of Eggsy’s body language in relation to the characters Harry, Roxy, Merlin, JB, Arthur, Gazelle, and Valentine.  Disclaimer 1: I ship Hartwin.  Like, a lot.  I tried hard to keep it out of the meta, but I’m afraid it’s seeped in and rather permeated the thing.  Especially considering that writing this actually made me ship it even harder. XD  I do think it should still have value if you don’t ship it, but I’m giving fair warning.  Disclaimer 2: I have done research on body language in the past but didn’t do any for this specifically.  This is literally just me talking about what I see and how I interpret it based on all my other thoughts about Eggsy.  Obviously, this is all my personal opinion, and people are free to agree/disagree/discuss freely. :3  Disclaimer 3: This thing is monster long, and obviously, not everything here is gonna be some golden nugget.  I did pour my heart into, though, and in the process learned a lot about how I think of Eggsy.  I like to think I said a lot of good stuff in here, even if it’s not all revolutionary.  I really hope you’ll make it to the end (but I also know that’s a big undertaking and understand if you don’t).  

Please enjoy.  I sold my soul to Satan for this.  XD 

(Also, before we get started, please, if you want to use any of these gifs, credit back to me.  I have worked extremely hard on this, and the gifs alone took me probably 10-15 hours.  Thanks.)

So, I’m basically just gonna take us through the whole film in order using the gifs as reference for what I’m saying.  It may be a bit disjointed, as I’ve opted for a stream of consciousness style (with no beta outside of my constant re-reading).  I’ve split this into several posts with roughly 20 gifs each (though all 10 posts should be thought of a single meta - I’m writing them all at the same time).  I’m only discussing the characters that were requested.  Commentary for each gif/scene is underneath the gif.  Fair warning: This has turned into much more of an Eggsy character study than a straight up body language analysis, though there is still a ton of that in here. 

(Disclaimer 4: I totally fucking forgot the first scene with Eggsy and Dean, but I talk about it some when Dean shows up in part two.  Sorry about that.)

Okay, so first thing’s first, let’s talk about the first time grown Eggsy meets Harry.  This is Eggsy in full bravado mode, something he does a lot in the film when he’s thrown off, scared, or otherwise trying to protect himself while still seeming in control.  I would argue that bravado is his default defense mechanism more than anything else, except maybe the ruthless tension and stillness he tends to adopt when bravado isn’t appropriate.  You can always tell Eggsy is feeling uneasy when he goes still and tight.  Of course, that’s very common, but it’s particularly obvious with him, as he’s usually so loose and fluid, and because when he goes tight, he does so pretty viciously.  (I wanted to mention this here, because for the rest of the Harry interactions, this kind of response from Eggsy will be notably absent, which I think says a whole fucking lot about their relationship.)

At this moment, Eggsy is utterly confused by what’s going on.  We see him walking out of the station and looking around, as though no one has explained to him why he’s being released.  Then, as he’s walking down the stairs, some random posh dude, without preamble or introduction, _offers him a ride home_. Like, I think that would set off alarm bells in anyone’s head, and Eggsy is reacting completely appropriately by being rude and aggressive.  (Side note: I personally head canon that Eggsy has done sex work in the past and would interpret this as someone trying to purchase him.  That’s neither here nor there for meta’s sake, though, just something that makes this moment give me feels.)  

From a body language standpoint, since that is, technically what this meta is about, you can see his aggressive stance, even just from looking at his bust.  He squares off a bit, looks Harry up and down incredulously, defiantly raises his chin and uses a sarcastic/confrontational tone of voice.  I don’t have a gif for it, but he continues in his vein when he says “That ain’t an answer” in response to Harry saying that he got him out.

Okay, so _then_ , Harry introduces himself, tells Eggsy that he gave him the medal, and this fucking utter bullshit that breaks my soul into one thousand tiny shards happens.  It’s hard to totally capture it in the gif, but Eggsy’s bravado completely dissolves.  He doesn’t necessarily feel any less confused or uneasy, but you can see in his face that the forward emotion has changed drastically.

Suddenly, his brow furrows, his mouth is open just the slightest bit in surprise while he processes (as opposed to the aggressive, bravado laden gape he had on a second ago), and then his lip quivers.  I read this look on Eggsy as one of simultaneous hope and sadness.  This screams to me that he has suddenly been forced to remember something that he doesn’t actively think about often: His father is dead, and Eggsy knows nothing about how it happened.  But also, the rather doe-like blinking he does here reads as hopeful to me.  By introducing himself the way he did, Harry instantly dismantled Eggsy’s wall of bravado and bought himself the beginning of Eggsy’s trust.  He took a bet that Eggsy’s feelings about the loss of his father (and whatever memory Eggsy had of the day he received the medal) would be strong enough to steamroll any suspicions Eggsy may have had, and the bet paid off.  As evidenced by this devastating look, and the fact that five seconds later Eggsy follows the total fucking stranger to a pub for drinks.      

Okay, so now that Eggsy has followed the strange man to the pub and started a lively conversation off camera, we come into this scene.  Eggsy is clearly being told stories about his father, and he is responding with a kind of innocent boyish happiness that we really don’t see anywhere else in the film.  Yes, we see him acting young and boyish, but never with this kind of innocence.  This is a man who has likely never had the chance to be told stories about his father, hearing about him for the first time.  He’s experiencing the joy of knowing his father for the first time in memory.  (I know he knew his father as a child, but clearly he doesn’t have copious amounts of memories of that time, considering how young he was, and also that he didn’t recognize Harry at all.  Also, at that age, he would’ve only had the child-goggles perception of the man, whereas, here, with Harry, he is able to get a much more complete picture.)  

Body language wise, we can see that Eggsy is sitting forward in his seat.  His arms are in front of him, but he’s not in a defensive posture, merely giving himself the leverage to comfortably hang on Harry’s every word.  He keeps eye contact with Harry, his face breaking into several permutations of a smile.  Also, I think it’s worth pointing out, in this specific gif, he’s actually asking about Harry, not his dad.  Maybe it’s just because Harry is telling him the things he wants to hear, and treating him civilly.  Maybe it’s because he wants to learn about his father through the vector of knowing the man who knew him.  Whatever the reason, Eggsy has already taken a liking to and an interest in Harry.

I find it really interesting how quickly Eggsy opens to Harry and begins trusting him.  I think it says a lot about Eggsy as a character that, even living a life that would rightfully make him completely jaded, he is able to give his trust so willingly.  I do think Harry is rather a special case on this front, but even putting that aside, the amount of positivity Eggsy is able to exude is truly lovely.  Also, as another side note, I would argue that Eggsy’s trust in every other character he meets on screen is reflected through the prism of his trust in Harry (which I will talk about when we get to the other characters).  

Okay, I don’t have a ton to say about this one, except look how pleased he is!  This is the face of a boy gleefuly realizing that his father did something extremely heroic.  He is staring at the evidence of his father’s heroism right now.  In the past, he’s probably never really had a way to conceptualize what his father’s death really meant outside of his family.  He just knew his dad was gone, and that now life was shit.  He knew his father was a good man.  But _this_.  This is the face of a child finally _understanding_ the positive impact of his father’s actions.  (I know Eggsy is an adult here, but I’d argue that his whole demeanor in this conversation so far has been regressive.  He is acknowledging and experiencing emotions that he rightfully should have been allowed to experience as a child, and he has to process them that way before he can also process them as an adult.)

So here is the moment when things turn ugly in this scene.  One thing that I think is really important, and indicative/prophetic of the deep bond that is on the horizon for Harry and Eggsy here is that, while Eggsy is clearly angry and defensive, he isn’t using either of the defenses he uses for most of his other confrontations in the film.  He isn’t falling back on snark and bravado, and he isn’t putting himself on a very tight leash.  

He reacts explosively, passionately, incredulously, and most importantly, openly.  He’s pissed at Harry’s audacity, and he already has enough of a rapport with him that he feels comfortable just launching straight in with his genuine emotional reaction.  Also interestingly (maybe? to me at least), despite their close rapport being the reason he feels comfortable doing this, he’s calling Harry out for acting like he knows Eggsy more intimately than he really does.  (HAHA BECAUSE THEY WILL TOTALLY GET TO KNOW EACH OTHER INTIMATELY LATER OKAY?  *Hartwin goggles activate*)

As for the actual body language: His face falls slowly at first, and then all at once (like one tiny piece of glass falling out of a broken window, and then the whole thing comes crashing down).  As soon as he reaches the zenith of his frown, he pushes himself back, quickly and harshly, putting distance between them, clearly demonstrating his offense with his words, tone of voice, and his body language.

Defensive posture: activate.  He crosses his arms the second Harry starts actually listing the things in his file that have brought him to his current conclusions about Eggsy.  Eggsy is obviously well aware of what his file says about him, is well aware that there are plenty of people who would judge him for his life.  Clearly, he’s fucking heard it all before and doesn’t want to hear it again, particularly not from a man that he had clearly already been developing positive feelings towards.

In this gif, he is specifically responding to the accusation of never having had a job.  This is the one thing Harry has said so far that he’s able to latch on to and defensibly argue against.  Everyone knows there’s no jobs out there.  It’s not fair to blame him for that.  Eggsy is clearly hoping to gain some ground back by pointing this out.  

Even with that, though, he’s not put his bravado face back on.  This is his genuine emotional reaction to what Harry is saying.  He feels unsafe, he feels he needs to protect himself from the loss of (or lack of ever having had) Harry’s esteem, and this is the only time in the movie that he does it with this type of body language (at least without also augmenting it with snark).  The crossed arms and pursed lips are classic signs of defensiveness, and I think it’s pretty important that Eggsy is displaying this kind of body language without the addition of snark/bravado armor.   

Okay, this is when Harry says, “Of course, always someone else’s fault”.  I really want to take note of how hard Eggsy is breathing here, of the way he can’t even look at Harry after he says that.  I think this is the thing Harry says that _hurts_ Eggsy the most.  We see in the film that Eggsy does freerunning/parkour, which is really, really close to being gymnastics if we’re honest.  I think Eggsy probably  _loved_ gymnastics (I mean, you don’t get to be Olympic material if you aren’t at least somewhat into it, you know?).  I think having to quit is probably something that genuinely haunts him, something that he probably felt (and was) extremely powerless to prevent.  I feel like he has probably mourned the loss of not only his hobby, but his chance to do something _truly great_.  His coach said he was  _Olympic material_ , and Eggsy had that taken away from him, almost certainly against his will.  

Yet here Harry is, implying that it was his fault he lost that.  Harry says a lot of things in this scene that make Eggsy angry and defensive, but this specific thing, I think, is actually somewhat devastating for him.  (Still, though, he is in genuine emotions mode.  He tries to hide his feelings by looking away, not by putting up some false bravado front and acting like it’s no big deal.)

Before I start on this one, I’ll point out, I talked a lot about this part of the scene [here](http://turtlenovas.tumblr.com/post/134438574023/turtlenovas-because-my-mum-went-mental-bangin).  This scene is super important to me, and pretty much colors my entire interpretation of Harry and Eggsy’s relationship.  

Harry’s gone too far here, implying (even though it was unknowingly) that Eggsy should have stayed in the marines rather than come home to take care of his mother.  Hell, Harry gave Eggsy specific instructions to take care of his mother, which Eggsy has done everything in his power to do.  Eggsy clearly didn’t want to leave the marines.  It was clearly another situation where he was forced to give up on his own positive achievements, on his own chance for an improved future.  Harry has taken the hurt of the previous comment (about the gymnastics), and compounded it by poking a very similar, much fresher wound.  

The difference here is that he has now attempted to shame Eggsy for taking what Eggsy believes to be an honorable action.  Eggsy will listen to Harry list off his faults, his bad behavior, his regrets all day, but the second Harry tries to shame him for this, it’s too far.  

For this specific gif, obviously the important body language thing to note is that Eggsy is no longer on the defense.  He uncrosses his arms, opens up his body language, leans forwards back into their shared space and he goes on the offensive.  Specifically, he uncrosses his arms right as he says, “losing me as well as my dad”, which is the lead in to him basically raking Harry over the coals for his classism and shitty assumptions. 

Okay, so this is the start of Eggsy’s speech about what a giant, snobbish asshole Harry is, and I love it.  He’s got so much fire during this speech, like, yeah, he may have had to give up on all his dreams, and he may have had to do some unsavory things, and maybe for the beginning of this conversation, he was feeling “appropriately” shamed (as Harry intended), but suddenly he’s realized that Harry _doesn’t know what the fuck he’s talking about_.  He’s realized that, while he may have given up on all those things, he never gave up on who he is, and who he is _is a damn good person_. 

This is him coming back to himself, pulling out of the dreamland of learning about his dad and finally experiencing that childhood.  This is Eggsy’s current life barging it’s way into the conversation to remind him that he is a fighter, that he has survived, that he isn’t ashamed of who he is, and that no posh idiot with only his file to look at can make him feel ashamed, no matter how much he’s taken a liking to them.

In the post I linked, I talked a lot about how I think this outburst affected Harry and his perception of Eggsy, and since this meta is about Eggsy specifically, I’m not going to address it, but I do think this scene is single handedly responsible for their entire relationship.    

As for the actual body language on this part, I think Eggsy’s anger and hurt are pretty clearly at the forefront here.  His body is fairly open and his face and tone are aggressive, but not threatening.  I think we can read that he is genuinely upset and offended, and probably more than a little disappointed in Harry (something I find interesting, as he seems to have built up expectations of Harry rather quickly).  There is no snark in this speech, there is no bravado, there is nothing but Eggsy’s genuine upset and desire to put Harry in his place/reclaim equal ground.   

Lol, the piece de resistance of Eggsy’s argument.  I think Eggsy is being rather intentionally crude here (”same silver spoon up our asses”), to make a point that everything he just said is still true, even if he decides to talk like this.  Like, I think Eggsy is 100% smart enough to articulate his argument in a way that avoids this kind of language (and which might, logically, win him more points with Harry), but is making an active decision not to.  He’s throwing it back in Harry’s face that, yeah, he’s crude, and he’s done all that shit Harry was so disappointed about, and Harry still _fucking wrong_.  This is Eggsy patently refusing to apologize for his life.  This is Eggsy insisting that they’re equals, despite the differences Harry wants to shame him for. 

As for the body language, Eggsy leaning even further into the space between them strikes me as him breaching “shared” space, and entering into “Harry” space as much as possible with the table between them.  He is throwing down the gauntlet, smacking the proverbial glove over Harry’s face and leaving it up to him to respond.  His face is the very picture of incredulity here.  Like, “Did you really think I was gonna sit back and let you walk all over me?  How about instead I give you this well thought out, incredibly articulate speech about how you are an ignorant snob?”

Like, honestly.   _Yes, Eggsy._

Now that Eggsy has finished his offensive barrage, the ball is back in Harry’s court, which puts Eggsy back in defensive posture.  He is prepared for Harry not to value what he’s just said.  He’s prepared to have Harry try to shame him again.  So he puts himself back into protective mode.  He hopes that what he’s said will have an impact, and the possibility that it won’t makes he want to protect himself.  I think he genuinely cares what Harry thinks of him here, genuinely wants Harry to _get it_ , to appreciate how hard he’s had to work just to survive, and it will really hurt him if Harry doesn’t.  So he crosses his arms protectively, leans back into his own space, and can’t meet Harry’s eyes.  

As much as I’ve said Eggsy doesn’t use the bravado with Harry, I think this one bit is an exception.  It seems to me like he’s trying to make out that he doesn’t care either way what Harry’s response is, but based on the fact that his body language is almost an exact copy of what it was when Harry made the comments about the gymnastics, I think we, the viewer, are meant to interpret that as Eggsy really caring quite a bit.   

And here is the payoff for why I think we’re supposed to interpret that Eggsy really does care what Harry thinks.  Even though Harry’s comment (”More examples of young men who simply need a silver suppository?”) could be read either way (disregarding the validity of what Eggsy has said, or acknowledging it), Eggsy is more concerned with the immediate threat to their safety.  As soon as he thinks the two of them might be in danger, he immediately forgets any hostility or negativity that may have arisen between them and tries to protect Harry (and himself, but still - he just as easily could’ve fled on his own and left Harry to his own devices).

 Also, I like that there’s no real heat or snark in his “No, they’re exceptions” retort.  Like, even though he’s completely in defensive mode, and even though he feels attacked by Harry, he’s not going to jump to conclusions about the meaning of Harry’s comment until they actually have a chance to discuss it.  I think this says a lot about his relationship with Harry, as later in the film, the chip on Eggsy’s shoulder is pointed out a few times, and it’s apparent that he isn’t actually above jumping to conclusions when he’s feeling defensive.  Like, even though they’ve just had, what is basically a fight, Eggsy still wants to trust Harry enough to give him the benefit of the doubt until they can really finish the conversation. (TBH, Why Eggsy?  WHYYYYY???? THERE IS NO REASON.  YOU’VE KNOWN HIM FOR FIVE SECONDS.  PLS, MY SON.  WHY IS HARTWIN SO FUCKIN’ REAL???)

Lmao, he’s so scandalized that not only is Harry not getting up to leave/heeding the threat, but that he’s snarking at Eggsy.  XD  I’m lolin’. (This is Eggsy’s face when Harry says, “Whatever your beef with Eggsy is, and I’m sure it’s well founded”.)  This is totally Eggsy’s, “Are you serious?” face.  Like, wtf Harry, now is not the time to be snarking.  XD  He’s so confused.  He knows Harry’s not stupid, and he doesn’t yet have any reference point to know why Harry wouldn’t do the smart thing and heed the warning that they should go.  I feel like this is his face frozen between worry that Harry is digging them a deeper hole, and surprise that Harry’s being a snarkasaurus right after that serious conversation.  

The specific physical things I’m looking at here are the slightly parted mouth and his eyebrow raise.  Eggsy has a tendency to have his mouth open at all fucking times, but like…it’s open _differently_ depending on the situation.  When he’s being super offended and over the top, or very bravado mode, he tends to go into a full on gape.  Here, though, it’s much more similar to the genuinely surprised, whisper apart open mouth he had when Harry introduced himself.  So to me, that’s his serious, slightly surprised, slightly worried face.  Then he’s got the eyebrow raise when Harry does the snark, which reads to me as his minute, “Really, bruv? Really?” kind of reaction.   

Jesus, but Eggsy is so soft here.  Like, what the fuck, Harry’s in danger so suddenly all is forgiven and you’re gonna turn into this sweet, placating, protective, soft darling?????? I cannot compute.  I cannot fucking compute.

But no, really.  I think this says _so much_ about Eggsy as a person.  I literally harp on almost constantly about what a highly empathetic and compassionate person he is, and this scene is just one more example.  Eggsy _really fucking cares_ what happens to Harry here.  He’s not going to have Harry punished because he was stupid.  Also, initially his plan was for both of them to flee, but when Harry effectively made that impossible, he’s perfectly willing to stay and take the heat while Harry leaves.  

Eggsy is honestly just such a lovely person.  He is a true knight before he even knows what Kingsman is.

As for his body, he leans back into Harry’s space, his face goes a little soft, he’s very earnest here, his voice is really quiet.  It’s like, he’s telegraphing all of his body language to Harry here, even though Dean’s goons are standing right there. 

Okay, I lied when I said I didn’t do any refresher reading, because when I got to this gif, I looked up some meanings of lip biting and sucking, and basically what I read said that it can largely be an indicator of uncertainty, and indicator that someone is trying to prevent themselves from saying something, and that accompanied by raised eyebrows (hello Eggsy’s raised eyebrows) can be a somewhat childlike indication of expectation of a scolding.

I kind of like all three of these explanations rolled into one.  I think at this point, Eggsy is unsure what is going to happen between him and Harry if Harry leaves right now.  I really believe Eggsy wants to have a continued relationship with Harry by this point, and he doesn’t know right now, watching Harry get up to leave, whether he will ever see the man again.  I imagine he is probably clamping down on the instinct to confirm with Harry whether they will ever speak again (trying to prevent himself from saying something).  He knows that starting a conversation like that will definitely escalate things with Dean’s goons, who, right now, are being rather reasonable letting Harry leave, so he’s keeping his mouth shut, even though I 100% think he wants to make sure Harry isn’t walking out of his life for good.

Also, as far as the raised eyebrows and tracking Harry with his eyes, I think he’s not sure whether Harry will say something to him or not.  It seems to me like maybe he’s partly expecting some sort of parting shot from Harry - a last say to indicate that Harry really doesn’t find Eggsy to be worth any more of his time.  That’s where I think the childlike expectation of a scolding comes in.  Like, I think he really hopes Harry won’t say something like that, not just for the sake of keeping Dean’s goons from going off, but also because I think it would really hurt Eggsy for them to part like that.

The utter disappointment he feels when Harry provokes the goon squad.  There’s really not much to say here, except he was obviously really hopeful Harry was gonna come out of this encounter unscathed, and now he’s sure he’s not (he doesn’t yet know that Harry is a fucking badass).

I think the body language here is pretty obvious, but since I’m supposed to be writing about it.  He closes his eyes, he has a severe downturn on his mouth, his brow is furrowed, and he drops his head - all classic signs of distress/disappointment.  Also, he sighs deeply, as if he’s thinking silently to himself, “Fuuuuuuuuuck.”  XD

“Put me down as scared _and_ horny.”

Lol but okay, no.  I just want to include this, because what a lovely moment of dawning understanding for Eggsy.  One move and suddenly Eggsy realizes that Harry is much more than he seems.  I like to think Eggsy is tentatively feeling a little bit of relief here (though probably not yet totally willing to give up on his worry based on just one badass move from Harry).  Obviously, though, the main emotion at the forefront is total surprise.  I mean, just look at those eyebrows shooting up and his mouth dropping open just a little bit more.  Boy is _impressed_.

Okay, I didn’t include any of Eggsy’s other reactions watching the fight before this one because they’re all basically just permutations of the previous gif with the surprise/relief/kind of giddy joy.  This one, though, is his reaction after seeing Harry shoot the electro-wrist bind at Poodle.  He sees it, and then his gaze immediately tracks back to Harry, mouth twitching up in the slightest bit of a smile.  Like, this is a classic happy disbelief face.  He can’t quite believe what he’s seeing, he’s totally in shock, but also…you can see in this face that there’s a little bit of delight and glee hiding under all of that uncertainty.  Like, he doesn’t quite want to enjoy what he’s seeing, because he doesn’t know what the outcome will be for him, but damn is it _satisfying_ , and also _fucking cool_.

This one is just after Harry amnesia darts the bartender.  I think this moment is really important, because Eggsy doesn’t know what Harry’s done.  With the goons, it’s pretty obvious he was just disabling them (and also, they weren’t innocent, so even if he had gone overboard, I don’t think Eggsy would mind), but here, Eggsy has no way of knowing whether Harry has killed the man or not (and the bartender is innocent).  I think he’s still feeling a little giddy in his surprise, but this moment tempered it quite a bit.  Like, you can see his smile dropped away completely, and he looks back over to Harry in a more serious, “What the fuck” kind of way than he had during the actual fight.  Eggsy isn’t quite afraid of Harry at this point, but the unknown factor here has definitely put some wariness back in him.    

And here we have Eggsy being completely and totally unsure what to do with himself when Harry comes back over.  He’s not quite willing to put himself in a defensive posture (I think largely because that type of posture also reads as a threat, like, “If you come for me, I’ll defend myself”, and Eggsy’s just been shown he has _no hope_ in a fight against Harry).  I think Eggsy is forcibly keeping his posture open here.  He’s a little awed, a little wary, maybe a little afraid, maybe a little turned on (ha, Hartwin goggles, firmly in place, in case you thought I took them off).  He’s gotta wait for Harry to move this conversation forward, because he’s just had his entire perception of the situation shattered.  He’s scooching a little further back in his seat, like he wants to put some space between them, just in case.  He’s stiff, holding himself rigid (the only time in the film he does this with Harry).  This is like him meeting Harry all over again.  He’s reverted to his default defense mechanisms (the rigid control this time instead of the bravado, as the bravado might be a dangerous option here), and is waiting for Harry to reintroduce himself as the man Eggsy’s just met.  

  


Okay, so this is Eggsy right after Harry says, “Heard yesterday a friend of mine died.  He knew your father, too, actually.”  Now, his face actually hasn’t changed very drastically from the moment before, when he was just staring confusedly at Harry while he finished his pint.  But, “not very drastically” and “not at all” are two very different things, and I wanna talk about why the little change in his expression is important.

Eggsy is empathizing with Harry here.  He’s feeling sadness and hurt on Harry’s behalf (and also possibly on his own behalf at the renewed mention of his father).  This is a face extremely similar to the one I discussed in part one after Harry introduces himself.  Only now, instead of a mix of hope and sorrow, it’s a mix of confusion and sorrow.  There is a softness to Eggsy’s mouth here that I find to be rather important and indicative that his displeasure is coming more from a place of sadness/empathy than a place of harder emotions.  His brow furrows further when Harry speaks, but it’s a sad furrowing rather than an angry furrowing (the line isn’t as harsh, and the rest of his face doesn’t change to indicate anger or any other harsher discomfort).  Taking in the combination of his mouth and brow, as well as his slow, deliberate breathing and the drooping of his eyes (not a narrowing, it’s much looser and less tense than that), I think this is Eggsy feeling a punch of sadness on Harry’s behalf, even as he’s still overcome with his wariness and uncertainty.  

Jesus Christ, his face in this kills me.  He’s scared, yes, but to me that isn’t the primary emotion here.  Like, especially at the beginning of the gif, before he starts talking, he just looks devastated.  Just look at how his face has fallen, his brow completely furrowed with the outer corners extremely far down (classic sadness furrow).  His mouth is in a total soft downturn, which we’ve established I think is his sad frown.  He swallows hard and takes a deep breath, which I think is the indicator of his panic, even though his sadness strikes me first and foremost.  Then he immediately launches into a fast paced recitation of the reasons why Harry should leave him be.  

He clearly does not want to lose the events of the day (he still doesn’t know what the watch does, but I feel like, at this point, he’s decided it’s probably not murder - this is not the face of a man begging for his life).  I think that, at this point, his connection to Harry has become extremely important to him.  Harry is a window into understanding his father.  Harry is a man who just wiped the floor with the people who have been victimizing Eggsy for years.  Harry is a man who just did that in defense of Eggsy’s honor (lest we forget, he only responded once one of them implied Eggsy was a rent boy - something that’s even more powerful to me, specifically, considering that head canon I mentioned of Eggsy being a sex worker).  Sure, Eggsy is still wary and a little scared of Harry, but I genuinely think that at this point, Eggsy has forged an emotional bond to Harry, whether intentionally or otherwise, and most of his fear here is coming from the thought of losing that.

HANDSIES HANDSIES HANDSIES LOOK AT HIS LIL HANDSIES.

Okay, now that that’s out of my system…He’s not quite sure the threat is gone yet, but he’s taking the chance.  He doesn’t actually start to lower his hands until Harry says, “You’re right about the snobs.”  Like, it’s that reference back to their original conversation, and the acknowledgement that Eggsy’s argument had validity that makes him feel safe enough to lower his hands.  He’s still tense, though, I would argue this tension comes more from being totally unsure what to do, rather than as a defense mechanism - Eggsy usually moves fluidly, because he’s very confident in himself and his instincts and he doesn’t second guess much.  Here though, he’s feeling rather utterly lost, so his movements are tense and jerky.  Most of the time in the film, when he’s tense, it’s completely a conscious decision.  I’d argue that here, it’s more of an instinctual thing. 

Also, it’s hard to see in the gif, but he eyes Harry up and down several times in the space of this movement.  He’s tracking Harry rather desperately, so he’s still definitely in self-preservation mode.  Like, he’s coming down from the unknown threat in increments, and currently, even though his mind has processed that he’s decided not to feel threatened anymore, his body hasn’t quite caught up.  His breathing also hitches pretty noticeably (harder to see in the gif, as it’s a bit slower than the actual film).  I point that out, because something I’ve noticed is that Eggsy’s breathing is often a dead give away when he’s panicking (like he really needs to have it trained out of him because it’s so obvious, even after he’s mostly completed the Kingsman training).    

Okay, this is a sad moment, and we are 100% supposed to interpret it as such.  Not even from a body language standpoint (honestly if I tried to sell you based only on that, it might be pretty flimsy), but if you go watch this moment in the movie, the music is quite sad (I can’t be totally sure since my husband and I just figured it out by ear, but I’m almost certain it’s in the key of B flat minor, which is traditionally a very dark key, often used to evoke sadness and loss).

Despite everything that has just happened (the fight between the two of them, Harry’s fight with Dean’s goons, Harry threatening Eggsy with the watch), Eggsy’s prevailing emotion upon watching Harry walk out of his life (presumably for good - at this point Eggsy doesn’t know he has a tracker on him, and Harry’s farewell sounds rather permanent), is _sadness_.  The most logical primary emotion here would be _relief_ , especially considering that Eggsy is still in recovery from his fight or flight response.  But no, he’s feeling sadness and loss.  This is how quickly and powerfully Eggsy has forged a bond to Harry.  This is honestly so indicative of how important that relationship is (whether you ship it or not).  

As for the actual body language here:  Eggsy is leaning forward in his seat, watching Harry go.  He’s tense, like he really wants to close the distance between them, but thinks better of chasing after Harry.  He’s been dismissed, and he’s going to respect that, but he doesn’t _want_ to.  Also, his face is doing the sad expression again (with the loose down turned mouth and sad furrow on the brow), only his eyes are wide and doe-like again, which, as I said in part one, I really interpret as hope.  Like he’s really hoping Harry will change his mind and turn around, and the music is meant to increase the impact of Harry _not_ doing that.  Eggsy’s watching him, leaning his body towards him to make sure he stays as close as possible to give Harry the chance to turn around and see him, right up until that door closes. 

This is a moment of sadness and loss, both of the potential friendship with Harry, and of his potential connection to his father.  Also, that loss is only compounded by the next scene, where we’re reminded what Eggsy’s current roster of male influences looks like. 

OKAY SO I TOTALLY FORGOT TO INCLUDE THE SCENE AT THE START WHERE EGGSY TAKES THE MONEY FROM DEAN, SO THIS IS THE FIRST DEAN GIF, BUT I’M GONNA TALK ABOUT BOTH.

So, the scene at the start I’m referring to is Eggsy’s introductory scene where he takes the money from Dean and comforts Daisy.  I talked about it a lot both [here](http://turtlenovas.tumblr.com/post/134721669155/), and [here](http://turtlenovas.tumblr.com/post/134541102753/) (which may be why I just totally fucking forgot to add it XD).  Basically, the relevant highlight is that Eggsy is tense, angry, and defiant with Dean, and in that situation, started using the bravado defense (saying Poodle should go instead of him), and then moved on to the tense, rigid control method when it became apparent he couldn’t win.

So now for this gif.  Honestly, there is not a whole lot of analyzing to do here (Eggsy is scared, scrabbling at Dean’s hands trying to free his airway - there’s nothing to analyze about that, as these are largely involuntary reactions one has when one can’t breathe), but I felt it was important to include this, since this sets a very real tone for their relationship that I don’t think we really were quite able to grasp in their first scene.

Honestly, this scene is the most difficult for me to watch in the entire film, and (rightfully, I think), the only scene that I truly find disturbing.  Probably because, while the rest of the film is fairly firmly rooted in fantasy, this scene is extremely real.  This scene is a horror that happens every day, all over the world.  This scene is graphic, and disturbing, and horrifying.  The raw depiction of what is happening is incredibly powerful and impactful, and I guess that’s why I wanted to include it, even though I haven’t got much analysis.

Okay, so now we move into the parts I can analyze.  This is Eggsy refusing to give Harry up, even in the face of, what could very well be mortal peril, Eggsy promised not to say anything, and he won’t say anything.  We saw already when he was in jail that he won’t grass in the face of prison time, but now we are seeing that he also won’t rat someone out in the face of death.  

His body language here is still largely involuntary/not good for analysis, as he’s basically just hanging on for dear life, attempting to prevent himself from being choked out.  I think the important thing we can get from that, is that even in the midst of a situation like this where he’s in so much danger he can’t put up and defenses, he is still loyal to those he feels have earned it.  Of course, anyone who’s seen the film will know that’s a recurring theme.  

He is afraid of Dean.  He loathes Dean.  He rages at Dean.  

 _He. Defies. Dean._  

WOW OKAY THIS MOMENT GETS ME SO BAD.  Obviously, Eggsy is putting his hands up because he’s terrified that Dean has a blade in hand now, and the danger just increased ever further.

But here’s the deal.  HERE IS THE FUCKING DEAL.  Eggsy doesn’t put his hands up, doesn’t go into appeasement mode, doesn’t try to diffuse the situation in any way until _Dean puts the knife on his mother_.

Up until this point?  Eggsy hasn’t necessarily been provoking Dean (except by refusing to give Harry up), but he hasn’t been doing anything to attempt to de-escalate the situation.  He’s merely been hanging on for dear life, trying his best to make it through the ride.  Even when Dean grabs the knife, he’s obviously panicked, but he doesn’t change his posture or behavior at all.  It’s all really fast, but I tried my best to capture it in this gif.  It’s not until Michelle’s life is genuinely threatened that Eggsy goes into, “Oh shit, I have to end this” mode.

I can’t say whether he would’ve given Harry up at this point or not (I want to argue no, that he’s smart enough to have thought up some other way), but it doesn’t really matter since I don’t think Harry was fully aware of just what kind of situation Eggsy was really in, and I don’t think Harry would ever intentionally use Eggsy’s mother against him in a test of loyalty.  Like, obviously Harry was gonna step in here, rendering the question of whether this would’ve been Eggsy’s breaking point rather moot.  

The important thing, to me, is that this moment demonstrates Eggsy’s priorities.  And it demonstrates that his own life is not one of those priorities (while his mother’s life is).

For all of Eggsy’s bravado, for all of his rage and disdain, for all of the vengeance he wishes he could take, this gif tells me that, at this point in the film, Eggsy feels terrified and powerless to truly do anything about Dean.  This is not the action of a man who thinks he ever has a hope of ending the threat.  This is a man fleeing, a man who feels no hope that the threat will be gone when he comes back, a man who is simply taking the chance he has been give to end the conflict.  Look how quickly and desperately Eggsy is fumbling away.  

He looks at his mum first, quickly, to ensure that he thinks the situation has been handled enough that she’s safe, and then he _flees_.  His utter terror is really apparent here in the way he stumbles back, the way he makes himself small, the way he refuses to turn his back.  Everything about this says fear.  

Also, it’s not really here or there, but I once read an article (it was a long time ago, no link, and not really sure how credible) about a teacher discussing ending fights between females vs. between males.  It said that ending fights between males is best done by breaking eye contact/removing them from each other’s space.  This scene makes me think of that, in that Eggsy is removing himself from the situation because he knows that he is the catalyst for Dean’s anger.  I don’t think he would leave if he thought his mum would be better off/safer if he stayed, no matter the danger he thought he was in.  I think he knows that him leaving is the best way to diffuse things, now that Harry has effectively broken Dean’s concentration.

Hmm, I haven’t got a whole lot to say about this.  Eggsy was briefly perked up after his freerunning escape from Dean’s goons, when he had all of his bravado on, but between giving them the two fingered salute and walking into the tailor’s shop, he’s sobered up quite a bit.  In this gif, I feel like he’s kind of just like…”Okay, Harry, here I am.”  Like, he knows Harry heard what happened, and that he did something about it, and I’m not sure he really knows how to handle that.  Eggsy has never met someone who was willing and able to _do something_ about his victimization.  I think when he walks into the shop here, he hasn’t yet decided how he’s going to handle the situation.

One thing I do want to touch on here, though, is Eggsy’s hands in his pockets.  A lot of the time we think of this as a “hiding” kind of gesture, but (and here’s another place where I did end up doing some refresher reading, just to be safe), it can also just be a relaxation move.  I feel like, in Eggsy’s case, that’s what it is.  Eggsy is repeatedly shown with his hands in his pockets when he is feeling relaxed or safe, and I think that’s what’s going on here.  He’s not so sure how to handle the situation, and he’s definitely confused and knows he’s being lied to, but he definitely feels no threat.  Honestly, he probably feels totally safe for the first time in a very long while. 

So why not flirt your ass off, amirite?  

Like, okay, I know I said I was going to try to keep Hartwin out of this, but _come on_. COME ON.  JUST LOOK AT THIS.  He’s literally giving Harry a once over and approving eyebrow raise while calling him on his obvious obfuscation of the truth.  Like…Eggsy, babe.  Get real.  You are checking him the fucks out.

I’m sorry.  Just…if you don’t ship it, you’re just gonna have to skip this gif.  I cannot come up with anything else.  

Like, this is not even bravado mode Eggsy.  He’s totally fucking relaxed!  He’s not even worried about the fact that he’s calling an obviously dangerous man out for lying.  He’s just chillin’, givin’ him the flirty eyes, givin’ him a little smirk (just the slightest upturn of his lips, nothing gauche :P).  Maybe it’s because Harry is also making the sex eyes at him.  I dunno.  I dunno.  

I cannot.  This just feels like flirting to me.  

Okay, so here’s a little return of the hesitance, but it’s for a rather good reason.  Harry didn’t really indicate what he wanted when he said “Come with me”, so I think Eggsy is well within his rights to be hesitant to enter a small room with him, even if he has grown to trust him a bit.  I think he doesn’t necessarily have danger bells going off right now, but is probably very confused about what the fuckles they’ll be doing in this dressing room.  Still, when Harry says, “Come on in,” in that encouraging, “there’s a good boy” voice, Eggsy goes in.  He’s still a bit tense and unsure, but he goes.  

I mean, Eggsy has received a lot of mixed signals on the “should I trust this man” front, but he just keeps on choosing to trust him.  I think his body language here/the tension he’s carrying seems to indicate that maybe he’s choosing to trust Harry against his instincts (which also makes sense, because of course growing up how he did, and coming from the situation he _just_ came from, all of his instincts would be screaming at him to protect himself, to stay out of confined spaces with loose cannons, to not let a man - _any man_ \- at his back).  Again, I think it says a lot about the nature of their relationship that, even this early on, and even against his instincts, Eggsy is choosing to pursue contact with Harry.  

(Of course, that’s not to discredit all the marks in Harry’s favor - what with what I said earlier about him being the only one to ever do anything about Eggsy’s victimization.  I just think that, sensibly, Eggsy’s instincts would still want to weight the potential danger more heavily, for self preservation’s sake.)  

I like this facial expression Eggsy has, because I feel like it’s really relaying those mixed emotions I was talking about for the last gif.  Like, he’s got the confused, downturned brow, but if you watch this scene in the movie (hard to see in the gif), he’s actually got a little upward tilt on his mouth.  Like, he’s smiling just a little bit, even though his prevailing feelings in this moment are more negative.  

He’s a little exasperated, and a little confused, and lot exhausted, but he knows this man just saved him, and he knows he’s not what he seems, and he feels comfortable standing there with Harry at his back and asking him point blank what’s going on.  I guess I just want to reiterate that Eggsy feels safe here, even though a lot of his emotions are negative.  He feels secure enough to ask, secure enough to have his exhaustion and exasperation playing openly in his face and in his voice.  His words could be considered snarky, but the way they’re delivered, it’s really just an exhausted plea for an explanation.  He has no defenses up here.  

I love this so much, because here, Harry has just said that he sees a young man with potential, and Eggsy’s face just drops.  Like, utterly and completely falls and his expression closes off.  He was basically making a neutral listening face, and then Harry said that, and first you get the sad sigh, and then he purses his lips and tilts his head in a little bit of frustration, like he knows what’s coming, but he’s signed up so he has to listen to it.

The thing is, the second Harry says that, Eggsy’s expecting a repeat of the pub scene.  He’s expecting Harry to shame him again, and he’s honestly just so tired, and it’s so apparent in his face.  I really appreciate what Taron did here.  I appreciate the way his expression completely changes the meaning of this scene.  Like, if you saw just the dialogue written, it would seem like that line was something that would make Eggsy happy, but here Taron has used his expression to contextualize the scene with what happened earlier, to bring depth to Eggsy as a character, to intensify the audience’s empathy and sympathy for him, and to increase the positive impact of the rest of the conversation.  And he did it all in under a second.  Truly, A+.

I LOVE THIS FACE OH MY GOD.  HE’S SO CUTE.  HE’S JUST LIKE, “REALLY BRUV?  REALLY????”  I LOVE IT.  

I have no analysis for this except that it’s hilarious.  Like, he was just casually like, “nope” for the first two movies, and then Harry says “Pretty Woman” and he makes this face.  He’s like, “First of all, what? And second of all, are you really going to continue to list movies at me?  I am clearly not aware of these references.” XD  I feel like this is a bit snarky, but for the most part, I think it’s that kind of loose, easy snark you have with people you know well.  When you just feel comfortable being like, “Dude, wtf?”.  I love that Eggsy is already there with Harry at this point.  I love it a lot. *tightens the straps on her Hartwin goggles*

I’m dead.  Goodbye.  I love the simple happy dawning of understanding here.  I love how open he is about the fact that he knows My Fair Lady.  Like, he’s not ashamed in the least to feminize himself that way.  (I love that later in the movie it becomes apparent that he likes it enough to reference it multiple times.)  That slow dawning of understanding on his face is really lovely.  Like, he’s got the confused, single cocked eyebrow, and then slowly his face opens up, and he’s got this lovely soft smile on.  He’s just so happy to have cottoned on to Harry’s meaning, and to be able to talk about something he clearly enjoys.  I don’t even think it occurs to him that the reference will impress Harry.  I just think he’s a fanboy who had a chance to bring up the thing he likes, and he’s happy and soft and cute and glowy about it. 

It’s not related to the meta, but I [have said in the past](http://turtlenovas.tumblr.com/post/134798564522) that this is when I think Harry started to fall for Eggsy emotionally, and I just want to reiterate that here, since I think this specific moment is really important for their relationship, even if it’s not important for this meta.     

Um.  So.  

Why is Eggsy biting his lip all sexy like?  

Haha, also, I know Eggsy has his mouth open for, like, the entire fucking movie, but I enjoy that I just read about how that’s a strong flirting signal. xD

But anyways, flirty little lip suck/bite aside, I love the incredulity here.  Like, Eggsy actually has a lot of reasons to believe what Harry’s just said (has pretty much seen tons of first hand evidence), but he’s still got those raised eyebrows, and the nodding head, like he’s in total “yeah fucking right” mode.  Largely, I think that’s him refusing to even acknowledge getting his hopes up, but who fucking knows.  I’m too distracted by his blatant thirst tbh. >_>

Now he’s like, “Wtf are you doing?”  Like, he’s a little wary and put off, even though he’s let Harry into his space, let Harry at his back, he’s still kind of skittish with the sudden, undecipherable movements.  He shifts away when Harry comes in closer, looks at him, gives him a fast, wary once over like, “WTF” before he ascertains that Harry isn’t coming into his space to cause harm and calms down a bit.

He’s still a little, “Wtf”, but the moment of panic has passed.  Honestly, I don’t think this has as much to do with Harry as it does with Eggsy’s ingrained response to people (particularly men) in his space.  As I mentioned before, we’ve see the kind of men he has in his life right now, and just because you trust someone doesn’t change your conditioned reaction to stuff like this.  Not this quickly anyways.  

I just love how totally impressed and surprised Eggsy is here.  He’s just like, “Holy shit.”  He spend a very long time looking around with this slack-jawed wonder as the elevator descends.  I dunno, I guess there’s truly not much analysis to be had here.  I just love his look of wonder and surprise.  Like, welp, the spy this deffos real. XD

Okay, I just want you all to know that Eggsy stares at Harry like this for a full 10 seconds (I timed it), which in movie time is basically a marriage proposal.  Even after Harry looks away, he just continues on looking with that totally earnest, lovely look on his face.  He is totally open here, like, suddenly, despite everything, Harry is the anchor of surety, because the world around him has shifted completely into the unknown.  He is hanging on Harry’s every word, looking at him closely, listening as actively as he is able, trying to pick up every tidbit that is going to give him some stability while his world is being turned upside down.  Lest we forget that Eggsy not only discovering that Harry is a spy, and that he is getting the chance to be one, he’s also discovering this is what his father was.  This is a moment of intense, world shattering revelation, and Harry is the point to which Eggsy tethers himself to stay afloat.  Rest assured, this elevator is more than just an elevator to Eggsy.  It’s revelatory. 

Also, this Harry as an anchor” thing continues on for quite some time, so get ready to see me point it out a few more times.

Aside from that, I also think Eggsy’s looking rather enamored of Harry here.  But that’s neither here, nor there. ;}

This is Eggsy’s face when he realizes the elevator has taken them to an underground station. I hate to end this part on a gif with very little analysis, but honestly I included this one as a bit of a lead in to the next one.

You can see Eggsy’s face go from a little nervous and wondering to surprised and a little, “wtf”.  Like his brow furrows and his eyes go very wide like he’s shocked at what he’s seeing (more shocked than by the elevator).  

  


Woo! Okay!  They’re getting out of the elevator, yeah?  And remember how I said Eggsy has latched onto Harry as his anchor in the midst of all the unfamiliar shit that just started happening (even though _Harry_ is still mostly unfamiliar also)?

Yeah.

Look at Eggsy’s body language (that’s what we’re here for amirite??).  He’s still staring a bit surprised at the tube, and then Harry exits the elevator, and it’s much faster in the film, but he looks over to Harry really quickly, and just kind of…trails after him.  Like, it’s a bit magnetic.  He doesn’t really know if he should be going, but Harry went, so he’s gonna follow.  Harry is his anchor, his guide, his familiarity here.  He finds assurance in following Harry, and he’s almost crippled to take action without checking in with him first for the next several little bits (until he enters the recruits barracks).  

Okay, so even as he’s following Harry out of the lift, Eggsy is extremely rigid and obviously uncertain.  When Eggsy is comfortable, he walks in a slouch, often with his hands in his pockets, but in this scene, Eggsy is standing very straight, and has his hands out to his sides (almost comically at some points in his stride).  Like no one fucking walks like that (you can’t see it in the gif, but trust me, or just go watch it, the time stamp is roughly 28:44).  Then we get to the gif, and Eggsy is hesitating by the entrance to the transport, like he’s just as unsure about getting in as he was about getting off the lift.  But again, the anchor thing I was talking about comes into play.  Harry gestures for him to enter, so Eggsy just takes a deep breath and hops on in.

Like, everything about these scenes is screaming to me that Eggsy feels like he’s in danger, that he feels like he’s taking risks, and that his instincts are screaming at him not to follow Harry.  The stiffness in his body, his constant hesitation, his tight breathing - everything signals that he’s  _this close_  to fight or flight and is actively stamping down on it.  He wants to believe that Harry is really giving him an opportunity here.  He wants to believe that this is safe, that he can trust Harry, and that he’s walking into a chance to really improve his life and do something great.  I don’t think he does quite believe it at this point, but he’s making the decision to ignore all that and be forcibly optimistic, which is something I love about him.  Even after all the harm that has come to him, he still  _wants_  to believe, and he’s going to act accordingly.

Okay, so, here I feel like, they’ve had some time in the tube (I can’t recall exactly, but I think I’ve seen people analyzing the clocks say it was over an hour), and Eggsy definitely seems to be a little more comfortable.  Like, he’s still looking around like a chipmunk on crack, but he’s not nearly as stiff, and he doesn’t hesitate nearly as long to follow Harry out this time.  Also, the look on his face when they get out isn’t nearly the look of, “Oh shit am I gonna regret this” that he had in the last few gifs I discussed.  Here it’s more like, “Oh, okay, we’re going.  Alright.”  I think that was maybe helped along by Harry’s, “Shit, we’re late” giving it a bit of a sense of urgency.  But really, Eggsy has become much more comfortable on the ride.  He is still looking around, taking everything in pretty voraciously.  He’s still very curious, and a little on edge, but he’s looser about it.  His eyebrows aren’t furrowed in that worried way, his forehead is smooth, his eyes are wide, but not panic!wide.  He’s leaning forward in his chair to get a better look around, not because he’s tensed for a fight.  Also, his mouth doesn’t really change at all until he sees the hangar window (and then it drops open in awe and surprise - no stress).  Normally when Eggsy’s stressed out, you can see it in his mouth, but here it’s pretty neutral.  

I can’t make any specific arguments as to what they discussed on the ride over, but clearly, it’s been enough for Eggsy to chill the fuck out and come to terms with the fact that he’s doing this, and that he trusts Harry not to lead him astray.

So this gif…I’m actually going to talk about Harry for a second, just because what’s happening here, I feel, is very indicative of their relationship.  Merlin refers to Harry as Galahad.  Something that, to them, is extremely mundane, and probably not at all worthy of note.  Eggsy, walking behind Harry, completely out of his field of vision, silently looks to Harry for explanation, curious and confused.  Harry, without having seen Eggsy, explains why Merlin has just called him Galahad.  Like, sure, it maybe doesn’t mean anything other than Harry has some presence of mind.  But really, Galahad is Harry’s other self, and being called by that name is probably so mundane for him, he’d be well within his rights for it not to occur to him to explain.  But he has enough consideration and knowledge of Eggsy to remember than an explanation is required to put Eggsy at ease, and so he does it, without ever receiving the signal Eggsy put out asking for it.  I just really like what that says about their relationship and consideration for each other, even after this short amount of time.  I’m sorry, that was unrelated to the topic of the meta, but after watching this scene 50 times in quick succession, that was what stuck out to me more than anything. xD

As for things that actually _do_ relate:  Eggsy holds his breath while he’s looking at/listening to Merlin.  You can see him take a deep breath when he looks at Merlin, and he doesn’t release it until Harry speaks and draws his attention.  Then he lets it out, a little hitching.  I don’t really know what this says, except that Merlin obviously puts Eggsy right back on edge, and Harry is still his anchor.

This is really just a continuation of the previous gif (actually, here you can see Harry drawing Eggsy’s attention and him letting the breath out).  During this entire interaction, Eggsy is extremely tense, and his attention is darting back and forth between Harry and Merlin lightning fast each time one says something.  This to me says that Eggsy has been rather robbed of any relaxation he may have accumulated on the ride over.  

I’m going to attribute this to two things:  One: He’s nervous as fuck because he knows he’s walking into something really fucking nuts (even if he’s not quite sure what he’s getting into).  Two:  He doesn’t trust Merlin.  I will be talking about this more later, but I don’t think Eggsy even begins to trust or respect Merlin until much later in the film (when Harry is in a coma).  Of course, in this scene, he has no basis to trust Merlin, so it makes sense.  He is relying on the fact that Harry is comfortable with Merlin to see him through his anxiety about the man.  (*beats the dead horse* Harry is his anchor, y’all.  Did you know that’s what I think?)  

I’m really only including this one because it reinforces the idea that Eggsy is patently uncomfortable right now.  He’s going in, and he’s gonna do this, but damn, boy is nervous.  I can’t say for sure why he looks back at Merlin like this, but what I want to say is that it’s an instinctual reaction to putting someone he doesn’t trust at his back.  Like, he’s going to open the door and just kind of, looks back to make sure Merlin isn’t getting up to anything shifty while his back is turned.  

Of course, this could be him looking for reassurance, (something that’s common enough with a door opening scene like this), but I think his expression clearly indicates that’s not the case.  He’s got the pursed, down turned lips, and his brow is tense even though it’s not furrowed.  This face, to me, reads more as a warning.  Like, “You stay right there while my back is turned, I’m watching you.”  I could be full of shit, but I thought about this one for a long while and this was literally the only thing that kept flashing through my mind.  

Also, unrelated, but I enjoy that turning to give Merlin that look actually puts Harry at his back.  

ROXY!!! HI ROXY!! Except, I’m still going with this gif as more of an example of Eggsy’s body language around Merlin.  Although, it is both.  There is that quick shared look between Eggsy and Roxy, but I’m not willing to assign any interpretable meaning to it aside from new guy just stood next to Roxy and is moving about, so she quickly looks at him before refocusing (and Roxy is the one Eggsy’s stood next to so he’s checking her posture to copy - he would’ve done the same no matter who it was, I think).  The reason I want to assign this as a Merlin moment is because Eggsy is clearly attempting to emulate the rest of the candidates here, to ensure that he is presenting the picture he thinks he’s supposed to present to Merlin.

I don’t think at this point Eggsy has any real personal investment in Merlin’s opinion of him, but he has shown marked personal investment in Harry’s opinion of him, and at this point, Harry’s opinion of him is largely hinging on how he conducts himself in this situation.  So, the nervous shifting, the looking around to see what everyone else is doing, and the uncomfortable repositioning to emulate occurs.  Worth noting, I think, is that Eggsy’s chin is very high here, and his head is pulled almost unnaturally far back, like he’s very tense in his emulation.  This is an at ease stance, and everyone else is pretty much just that, but for Eggsy, in this moment, it’s totally unnatural (not because he doesn’t know the stance, he’s been in the marines, but because it’s very clear he’s the odd man out here, and he’s feeling it acutely in this moment). 

Okay, like, I guess I don’t  _really_  need to include this one.  But just look how cute and confused he is.  He so obviously feels several steps behind everyone else, and I both love and hate that.  Like honestly, what were they discussing on the tube, because Eggsy really seems to be going into this totally blind.  He’s just completely shocked by everything.  But more on that in the next few gifs, I guess.  For now just enjoy his cute looking around like, “Why am I the only one that doesn’t know???”

So, even though this gif is mostly the moment with Charlie, I included it for the hard squint Eggsy is giving Merlin at the beginning.  This is just after Merlin confirms that he was holding up a body bag.  Now, at this point, I’ve established that I don’t think Eggsy trusts Merlin, mostly because he has no reason to.  

This moment, though, I think, is the moment when Eggsy juuuust starts to actively distrust Merlin, a trend that carries on for a good while in the film (up until Harry’s in the coma, as I said).  

HOO BOY, MERLIN SAID NEXT OF KIN, EGGSY DID ANOTHER HARD SQUINT.  HE IS SO SUSPICIOUS.  He’s trying really hard not to reveal anything, but I really think Merlin’s routine here is just digging a hole of mistrust in Eggsy’s lil heart.  (Side bar: look how beautiful Eggsy’s face is???) Lmao sorry, not much more to say about this one.

So, Eggsy is clearly extremely scandalized by the implied threat to his family here.  It’s faster in the movie, but Merlin says the line about breaking confidentiality=you and your next of kin in the body bag, and Eggsy immediately goes into  _another_ hard squint and whips his head around to look at the other candidates twice.  Like, he cannot fucking believe this guy just had the audacity to threaten their families, and he also can’t fucking believe he’s the only one who is shocked by it.  Strike 2 for the Actively Distrusting Merlin tally.  

ROXY FOR REAL NOW YAY!  Okay, so this is just them meeting, but I love how they hit it off right off the bat.  I think Eggsy is super relieved to have someone reaching out to him here, as he was just staring at the douche squad (y’all know who I’m talking about), clearly a little lost as to how the hell he was going to fit in with this group.  Then Roxy, bless her beautiful soul, introduces herself to him like it ain’t no thing.  And thus was born a beautiful friendship. 

There’s not a whole lot of body language to interpret here.  He’s got the pretty neutral “meeting people” face, and then he’s kind of amused that she misheard and is kindly correcting her.  Like, he obviously knows she wasn’t being malicious.   

Okay, so I also promised to talk about why I think Eggsy’s trust in other people is reflected through his trust in Harry, so I gotta mention it.  I do think Roxy is the person who this affects the  _least,_ by nature of a couple of factors.  The first is that she is a woman, and I actually think Eggsy is far more inclined to trust and feel safe around women than men (as he hasn’t been directly victimized by any women that we know of, and has been shown to have [deep love and respect](http://turtlenovas.tumblr.com/post/134721669155/so-earlier-when-i-was-writing-my-post-about-eggsy) for the women in his life).  The second is that she made an effort to put him immediately at ease and ensure him that she feels they are equals.  That said, the reason I still think this is still related back to Eggsy’s trust in Harry is because Eggsy is only making an effort trust any of these people based on the fact that Harry wants him here, and he trusts and believes in Harry.  He is clearly uneasy and on edge about this whole thing, especially after those couple strikes against Merlin during his introductory speech.  (Also, bless Roxy for comforting him like this.  Honestly, I love their friendship so much.  They are the Bi Bro Squad in my book.  But that’s neither here, nor there. >_>)

Here Eggsy is responding to Roxy’s comment about scare tactics/nobody dying by snarkily saying, “Shame,” while referring to the douche squad.  This is important from a Roxy standpoint, because it indicates that he is already comfortable enough with her to make this kind of joke.  He knows that she isn’t going to take it the wrong way, and that she will probably commiserate with him.  In such a short time, they have already developed this rapport, and it’s almost entirely thanks to how bomb Roxy is.

On another level, unrelated to Roxy, though, this is Eggsy building up his defenses again.  It’s more understated here, because it’s not directed at the person he’s talking to, but Eggsy is in bravado mode.  I didn’t include it in the gif, but just before this, he has the classic worried face, with the down turned brow, tight, down turned mouth, and wide eyes.  He is genuinely worried about the threats Merlin made.  He is genuinely worried about the situation.  Roxy picks up on this and tries to put his mind at ease.  I think in this gif, he doesn’t necessarily believe that she’s telling the truth, but she has given him an out to protect himself, to hide his vulnerability, and he’s going to take it.  In the course of this gif, you can see his face open up a bit as he puts on his snark mask, and then he goes into full joke mode with the eyebrow raise and the smirk.  He is still worried here, but he’s visibly steeled himself to pretend that his worry has been assuaged.  He puts on the front, acting like he’s not bothered by how stupid the douche squad is, acting like he’s not worried about Merlin’s threats, pretending he doesn’t care that he seems to be the only one that doesn’t know what’s going on.  The bravado isn’t as obvious, because it’s directed at the entire situation, rather than at Roxy, but it’s there.     

So, Eggsy is  _pissed_  here.  He’s exhausted, and in shock, and recovering from the water trial, yes, but mostly, he’s fucking pissed.  Look at how hard his brow is.  His expression isn’t necessarily conveying a lot to us, because he is so busy physically recovering from holding his breath for that amount of time, but throughout this whole scene, he is starting murder at Merlin (except when he’s staring murder at Charlie).  I think this is strike three, you’re out, for Merlin as far as Eggsy’s trust goes.  (Of course, Merlin isn’t entirely to blame for the situation, but I feel like Eggsy has latched on to him as the cause, and it’s going to be Merlin that Eggsy blames and associates for a lot of the stuff in the trials.)  Of course, all of that isn’t helped  _at all_ by the fact that Eggsy is then lead to believe that Merlin intentionally let a recruit die.

I couldn’t fit it all in the gif, but the moment before this is just as important as what’s happening here.  Merlin points to Amelia’s “body”, and everyone else in the room starts to get up to go look, while Eggsy is still frozen on the floor, looking around in horrified disbelief.  He maintains that face as he walks over the window, so we can see it here.  The open mouth with the severe down turn, the furrowed brow, the drooped eyes.  Based off the previous moment (wherein he was the last to be able to process what they were being told), and this slow, stunned walk over to the window, I think we can safely assume that Eggsy is rather devastated by this.

Of course, this doesn’t really directly apply as body language interaction with any of our list of characters, but I think this moment is pivotal for his distrust of Merlin.  (Also, like…I get that we don’t really see much of his relationship with Merlin until the second half of the film, but having watched it really closely for this meta several times over, I feel extremely strongly about the fact that they have a very contentious relationship during the first half of the movie.  I think it’s really clearly shown in Eggsy’s body language and behavior, even though we don’t see all that much of it.)

I think this is another moment of Bravado!Eggsy, even though it doesn’t quite make it to his body/face.  He says, “So much for army tactics” to Roxy, reminding them both what she told him to ease his mind.  I feel like by saying this, he is not only acknowledging the dire situation, but also attempting to lighten it a bit.  Like, the shock on his face is really apparent, and his droopy posture is also an obvious sign of his devastation.  The lightness of the comment (not necessarily light as in happy, more light as in, undermining the real weight of what they think they are witnessing) reeks of defensive maneuvering.  He can’t acknowledge vocally how serious this really is, for his sake and for Roxy’s sake, so he’s going to make a comment that still acknowledges what’s happened, but takes away some of the gravity.  I mean, this is something people do a lot, so it’s not necessarily surprising here.  I’m just noting that that’s what’s happening.  Eggsy is using bravado to act like the situation isn’t as bad as he clearly feels it is, because both he and Roxy are still going to have to soldier on after this, and they both know it.  He’s comforting her and he’s comforting himself in the only way he can think to do it.  

When I was making gifs, I was totally going to skip over this scene.  And then I saw it.  I just want y’all to take a seccy and look at each candidate here.  What do they all have in common?  They are all in at ease position.  

All but one.

Mr. Eggsy “hands in my pockets and I don’t care” Unwin is standing there, looking up at Merlin with an angry face, ignoring protocol for how he should be presenting himself.

Honestly?  This is actually scene that my entire feeling about their relationship hinges on (there are lots of little things that had me feeling that, but when I saw this, I was like, “Yes! LOOK AT HIM.  HE HAS NO RESPECT!”).  Because, last time we saw all the recruits hearing from Merlin, Eggsy was desperate to match the others, to give off the right impression to Merlin, and to make sure he didn’t stand out.  Here, though, he is defiant.  He started out standing in the expected position, hands behind his back, but as Merlin began talking, somewhere off camera, Eggsy shifted into this stance.  I feel like, after Amelia’s “death”, and all the other strikes against Merlin for Eggsy’s trust, Eggsy is simply unwilling to respect Merlin by standing in the deferential position that everyone else stands in.  So, in the only act of rebellion he can manage at this juncture (at least without severely disappointing Harry and losing his chance), he puts his hands in his pockets (his classic, “I am relaxed and give no fucks” stance).  Also of note: his lip is curled, which then makes me think his chin is raised as much in defiance as it is because he’s looking up.  I know this is a relatively tiny moment, but I think it says a lot.  Somewhere between body bag and “choose a puppy”, Eggsy decided that he wasn’t going to bend over backwards to defer and fit the expected image, and I think a large part of the reasoning behind that is his loss of ability to trust Merlin. (God, I’m having so much trouble articulating this.  I feel it so strongly, but I just can’t words it, XD)          

I don’t have a whole lot to say about this moment.  I just think it’s cute that Eggsy and Roxy are razzing each other.  I do also like that he keeps smiling, even after she explains why she picked it.  Like, he doesn’t need to be right or anything.  He’s just teasing, and he’s happy for her to have made a good choice that she’s happy with.  They’re bros and I love it a lot.  

As for body language, I guess there’s not too much of that here.  He’s clearly not used to holding a leash, so he’s kind of fiddling with that.  For the most part, he’s just hanging out, pretty laid back and easy.  He’s moving around a little restless, but I don’t get the vibe that he’s stressed.  I think he’s just being a little tease, and is maybe a little happy about the puppies.  

Lol, again, nothing too important to say here, but this is such a lovely scene for Eggsy and Roxy I couldn’t very well leave it out.  Look how scandalized he is, though.  Like, how fucking adorable is he?  Honestly.  His, “Oh no, I fucked up, it’s a pug,” face is the fucking best, okay?  Like, bam.  Analysis done.  Eggsy is a cute li’l muffin.

And now back to your regularly scheduled KILL ME IN THE FEELS gifs.  This is Eggsy coming into Harry’s hospital room for the first time after the explosion at the college (when Harry is in a coma).  This moment is important on several fronts and addresses three of the characters on our list (Harry, Merlin, and Arthur).  First, let’s talk about Harry.

Eggsy cannot keep his eyes off of Harry throughout this entire scene.  I’m discussing one more part of the scene in the next post, but just, suffice it to say, Eggsy’s eyes are only drawn away from Harry when he absolutely has to pay attention to someone addressing him directly.  He walks into the room here, and his eyes are already glued to Harry.  He checks in very quickly, just to assess who is here, and then decides, fuck it, whatever conversation they’re having is  _not important_ , and asks if he’s gonna be alright while looking back directly at Harry.  Now, I don’t know if at this point Eggsy knows who Arthur is, or if he just thinks he’s some random old dude.  I want to believe he knows and that this is foreshadowing of his loyalty at the end.  Like, yeah, Arthur is here, and he’s having an important conversation with Merlin, but the really important thing here is to ascertain Harry’s status.  Still, even if he didn’t know, all that other stuff still stands, it’s just a little less egregious if he’s not totally ignoring the leader of the organization on purpose. 

As for Eggsy’s body language when he walks in, he is extremely stiff.  Like, he enters pretty timidly, the way one might when going into a hospital room (you go quietly, for the sake of making sure you won’t disturb the patient), and then you can see his breath catch a little, and his mouth drop open just a bit, and his eyes widen.  Like, it’s all really minuscule, but Eggsy is very surprised to see Harry strapped in like that.  He was worried when he came in, but once he actually sees Harry, it’s clear his concern multiplies several times over.  

Lastly, for how this relates to Merlin: I think this is the turning point in their relationship.  Up until now, as I’ve mentioned, I don’t think Eggsy trusts Merlin in the least, but here (and even more in the next gif I’m gonna discuss), things start to change.  Eggsy is open and vulnerable with Merlin here, largely because he’s unable to control his emotions about Harry, and Merlin is the one with the information and power, but still, it says a lot that he’s not fronting.  Also, I think the reason this specifically is the turning point for them is that they are now able to relate on the level of Harry.  I do not believe for a second that Eggsy is supposed to be coming to see Harry in the hospital during training.  Honestly, I’m not even sure I believe that Eggsy is supposed to know Harry is in a coma (like, these are details of an active Kingsman mission, and we have confirmation by way of the later hospital scene that Eggsy/recruits is not supposed to be privvy to that stuff).  But, Merlin knows that Harry would want Eggsy to succeed, and Merlin knows that keeping Eggsy informed, and using Harry to galvanize Eggsy to success are the best ways to achieve that.  I think Eggsy would interpret Merlin pulling some strings to let him to see Harry as a gesture of good will, and as evidence that Merlin, too, cares about Harry, and I think that would be enough to begin to dismantle all of the negative feelings Eggsy has built up.  It’s not a complete turn around just yet, but this is the point where Eggsy starts to see Merlin as someone he could possibly be capable of trusting.  And it’s all because of how they both relate to Harry.

 

  


Wow!  Hartwin is so real???????!????!???  I mean, but seriously, just look at his face here.  This is his response to Merlin telling him to have hope, and that the best thing he can do right now is work hard to make Harry proud.  Just look at how earnest Eggsy is.  Up until this point he has been nothing but contentious with Merlin, but here he is, laid totally open and bare for Merlin, all because the man has connected to him on the Harry level (I know I just talked about this in the last gif, but oh my god).  And then, even in the midst of that, he can’t maintain focus on Merlin.  He has to look away and see Harry one more time.  He is so tuned in to Harry, to the point that Harry is the only thing Eggsy cares about here.  It makes sense, considering the context of where they are, but even so.  He’s not appreciative of Merlin’s advice for the sake of his chances as a candidate, he’s appreciative because it gives him a way to feel connected to Harry when he can’t stay there in the room with him at his side.  (I mean, okay, yes, I am doing some serious extrapolating here, and my Hartwin goggles are on tight, but I think y’all are used to that at this point.  I’ve given up all pretense.  Also, I think there is some extremely pertinent and serious textual evidence for my extrapolating.)

For the specific cues I’m looking at on his face: He has the loose down turned mouth that I’ve mentioned I associate with sadness and worry (and other “softer” displeasures).  He’s got the eyebrows turned down at the outsides, and very wide eyes.  Those things, combined with his little nod all coalesce for me into a sort of worried, earnest hopefulness.  Also, I just want to note, that after he nods at Merlin and his gaze slides back over to Harry, he nods one more time, slightly more shallow, as if to make the promise to Harry, too.  Like, “Yes, I’ll do this for you Harry.  You will wake up, and when you do, I will have made you proud.”

Hey there lil JB buddy!  We get this scene directly on the heels of the scene in the hospital with Merlin, which I think goes an extremely long way to explaining Eggsy’s reaction here.  In this first gif, we can see him tugging at JB’s leash, trying very hard to get him to run, looking back and forth between him and the rapidly advancing group.  While I can’t say the timeline for sure, I think the fact that these two scenes are right next to each other means the viewer is supposed to interpret that not very much time has passed between this and the hospital.  So, here we see Eggsy, having just made a promise to himself and to Harry that he is going to do his best to make Harry proud, but instead, he has fallen very far behind, all because of his stubborn dog.   

In this gif, he is clearly starting to panic.  The tugging at JB’s leash, and the very quick way he is looking back and forth both indicate that he’s going down panic lane, and what happens next basically confirms that.  

I feel pretty secure in saying that, with what we know about Eggsy, this moment is incredibly out of character for him.  If you have read any of my other posts, you know that I’m constantly harping on about how empathetic Eggsy is, and I think his pulling the gun on JB is in pretty deep contradiction to that heavily ingrained trait of his.  

I think the fact that he did this is a true indicator of the sheer, overwhelming level of desperation he is experiencing in this moment.  Like, sure, it’s just a jog with their dogs, but Eggsy is emotionally fraught.  Harry is in a coma, and the only option he’s been given for coping with that is to _do well_.  That is his primary overriding directive at this juncture, and he is clearly so overcome with the emotional effects of that in this moment that he loses himself and points the gun at the dog.  

He’s not going to shoot JB.  He was never considering shooting JB.  He is just desperate, and frantic, and emotionally distraught, and probably still a little traumatized from seeing Harry in the hospital, so he does the only thing he can think of and threatens the dog.

Now, before the next gif, I want to point out that the next shot is actually of JB cowering and whimpering.  I think it’s important that we see that before we see the next gif, because it informs us of something important about Eggsy.  

The important something is that Eggsy is endlessly, tirelessly, astoundingly empathetic, even with a dog. (Ha! Do you see what I did? I brought it up again! XD)  

In this gif, he is saying, “Merlin said we’re not allowed to hold you.”  His voice cracks on it, and I’m fairly comfortable saying it’s _not_ just the lighting making it look like he has tears in his eyes.  He is wrecked by this situation.  He wants so badly to do well, to keep the promise he just made, to soothe his grief over Harry by following through and making him proud.  He lost himself for a moment and threatened JB, but then as soon as JB showed him a fear reaction, he came back.  To me, this phrase is both a plea and an apology.  Eggsy is so distraught he is on the verge of tears.  He needs to succeed, but he already regrets putting the gun on JB.  

He checks in one more time to see how far ahead the group has gotten, and then he makes his choice.  He’s going to hold the dog, whether he is supposed to or not.  Eggsy has never before given up on who he is (refer back to his speech in the pub scene and my thoughts on that), and he’s not going to start now.  He’s going to complete the task, and he’s not going to put fear in JB to do it.  Eggsy is, at his core, a compassionate individual.  Of course he would rather hold the dog than threaten him.  It’s at this point that he makes the decision that this is a line he won’t cross.  He will make a lot of sacrifices, but his compassion is not one of them.  If his compassion gets him kicked out, then so be it.  

Also, from a Hartwin point of view, I really like this, because this is also kind of like Eggsy saying he won’t sacrifice his identity for Harry either.  Since at this point, I think the conflict is with his desire to make Harry proud, not his desire to be Kingsman.  This is a very healthy decision, and something that lots of people in mature relationships have to contend with.  This is Eggsy facing the dilemma of how much of himself he wants to give up for this very important relationship and finding the line he’s not willing to cross.  Eggsy’s ability to make this decision and stick with it is why, despite some power imbalances between Harry and Eggsy as individuals, I feel they can still have a healthy relationship where they are equals.  

I just really appreciate that he put JB in his vest.  It’s the most secure place for him, and the best way for Eggsy to still carry his firearm.  This is cute and adorable, and also extremely practical, and I like that.  I don’t really have analysis for this beyond that. 

This moment is largely actually Eggsy reacting to Charlie, but I felt it was important to point out that he is completely respecting Roxy’s space and autonomy here, even as he’s raging at Charlie.  He doesn’t give her shit for stepping in, he doesn’t physically attempt to throw her off or get up in her face at all (a lot of the time when scenes like this happen, you see the person being restrained turn on the restrainer), he somehow manages to respect her while still being an aggressive lil shit towards Charlie.

Also, since we’re here, I’ll just point out that this reaction is 100% bravado again.  Eggsy is not really gunning for a fight, if he were, he probably would’ve broken Roxy’s restraint.  This is a show of reaction to protect himself.  He was probably genuinely scared for his life when he woke up a moment ago.  That makes him vulnerable, so he is overcompensating with this reaction.  Classic bravado defense.  

The bravado continues here as he responds to Roxy pointing out that he will get kicked out with “Maybe I don’t give a _fuck_ if I get kicked out”.  Like, Eggsy cares.  A lot.  This is just him posturing, expressing his anger, trying to provoke in order to distract from his genuine feelings of fear and vulnerability.  Also it’s worth pointing out that he’s still not directing any of this at Roxy.  He’s responding to her comment, yes, but he is directing his gaze, his movements, and his words all to Charlie.  

First things first: Not shown in this or any of the other gifs is the fact that Eggsy is the only one who’s dog is sleeping on his bed.  You can see in this scene that there are cages at the foot of each bed, and Eggsy’s is the only one with an open door (and obviously JB was on the bed).  I mean, seriously, Eggsy can’t even bear to let the dog sleep in a kennel.  What kind of gentle being is he?  I love him so much.

Secondly, and this is even more apparent in the next gif, look how gentle he is picking up JB.  He sees that his puppy is scared, and he just wants to comfort him and hold him close and warm him up.  I feel like him holding the gun on JB was a turning point for them, from JB merely being a means to an end, to JB being Eggsy’s pet that he loves and cares for.  Like, I don’t think he was mistreating JB before (except the gun thing, obviously), but I don’t think he had that strong human-animal bond that we see here.  

Okay, here we really get that nice, painful closeup of Eggsy being gentle, and soft, and worried, and comforting.  Like, look at his face first.  His brow drawn down like that, his eyes trained very astutely on JB, mouth open in a kind of “ready to soothe” way.  Like, for the mouth, I can’t explain why it strikes me as all part of the comforting, but I guess in combo with the rest of his expression, it’s clearly like, “Oh my god, baby, something bad happened, let me take care of you.”

Next, look at his little fingers rubbing on JB’s paw.  That is so fucking cute I can’t even handle.  That’s not even meant to soothe JB, that is Eggsy self-soothing, assuring himself that JB is alright.  Like, honestly.  This boy loves his fucking dog. 

Eggsy walking in, presumably seeing Harry awake for the first time in months.  Harry basically starts it all off by scolding Eggsy (”Ever heard of knocking”), but Eggsy isn’t really phased now, and responds with a little quip about casing places to rob.  I think it’s kind of hilarious that their relationship has made this much progress while Harry was in a fucking coma, but there you have it.  

I feel like this little exchange is an indication of the resolve Eggsy gathered in the situation with JB.  Like, he cares deeply about Harry, and he wants to make Harry proud, but he is going to be front and center about who he is.  He’s not going to shy away from referencing the more unsavory parts of his past.  That’s who he is, and he’s come to the point where he knows, without doubt, that he’s not willing to change who he is for Harry.  Honestly, I think this comment was a test for Harry.  He presents it as easy conversation, but I’m willing to read a deeper intention to it.  Like he’s saying, “Hey, you’ve been out of commission for a while, here is our new dynamic.  Take it or leave it.”  

And of course, Harry takes it and passes the test and they continue on with the same ease and rapport they had before, only now it’s more mature.

I also want to point out that, even as all this is happening, and even as Eggsy is striding in with that loose gait and a hand in his pocket, he is giving Harry a once over.  Even as he’s talking and moving as though he’s not concerned, he can’t help but visually look Harry over to make sure he really is okay.  He is, as much as anything else, worried for Harry’s health, and needs to visually confirm for himself that Harry is alright.  

Look at this lil peacock, all proud of his doggy, showing off for Harry.  Like, Eggsy, you put him in sit, it’s not exactly a monumental achievement, why are you so smug? XD  He’s so fucking cute with his desire to impress Harry.  I cannot handle.

As for actual body stuff, I think it’s pretty clear in his face that he’s smug and proud and wants positive reinforcement from Harry.  He’s got the cocked eyebrow, and that cute lil smile, and he turns to look at Harry as soon as he’s ascertained that JB did what he’s supposed to.  Also, he puffs out his chest just a little bit, which is a classic pride move.  I mean, whatever you think the reason is, he’s definitely seeking praise from Harry here.  And I think y’all know what I think the motivation is. ;)

Merlin enters, and I just want to point out how hard I laughed the tenth time I watched this, because he totally walks in and is just like, “Huh………Eggsy……….”  Like he’s just totally resigned to the fact Eggsy has shown up and now he’s gotta deal with both of them.  I find this hilarious.  Especially since Merlin fucking told him to go see Harry, but still Merlin’s like, “fucking god damn it” when he walks in. XD XD I’m loling.

Okay, but as for actual analysis that isn’t just me laughing hysterically, I like how Eggsy actually defers to Merlin here.  This scene (both this part and the rest of it) clearly demonstrates for us the progression of Eggsy and Merlin’s relationship since we last saw them interact.  Here, Eggsy’s attitude towards Merlin is distinctly casual.  This is just how things are, Merlin gives orders, and Eggsy’s just like, “yeah, alright”.  The last time we saw them, when Eggsy came to see Harry in the coma, was most definitely a turning point.  Then, Eggsy had only just begun to trust Merlin, and was only interacting positively with him because he was playing on Eggsy’s feelings for Harry.  Now, it’s very obvious that in the months since that day, Eggsy and Merlin have come to a much more agreeable arrangement in their relationship.  Eggsy is casually willing to follow Merlin’s orders, they’re relatively friendly, and, as the rest of the scene shows, Eggsy is really quite comfortable around him (though I’d argue that maybe he’s flirting with Harry a bit with the level of cheek going on…they’re definitely using Merlin as a piece in a flirty game).  

For his specific body language, I think his expression really reinforces what I’m saying.  While Merlin’s talking to him, he’s got some duckface on, but I think that’s just Eggsy’s, “Yeah, I’m listening, bruv” face.  Then when Merlin tells him to leave, his face falls a bit, but he just nods like, “Alright fine,” and is going to leave until Harry cuts in.  Of course, as soon as Harry talks, Eggsy laser focuses on him as always.  Then Harry makes eye contact with him while he supposedly talking to Merlin, inviting Eggsy to stay, and then Eggsy gets the super happy smile which we can see even though we only get an out of focus ¼ profile of him.  Interpret that as you will.  You already know what I think it means.

Aww Eggsy, lil baby is so taken off guard.  I love that even after all these months of training (presumably doing a lot of learning about dark ass shit), and also after living a pretty violent life in general, he is still capable of this kind of shocked reaction.  Obviously, this is played as a bit of a comedy moment, with his facial and vocal reactions, and since we the audience already know it wasn’t Harry, but I also think it gives us a good insight into his character.  

Eggsy is legitimately, eternally the soft, empathic character (right up until they genuinely take Harry away from him, but MORE ON THAT LATER).  Even after everything he has seen and experienced, he is still shocked by violence to the point of having this type of over the top reaction.  

Specifically speaking, you can see himself take a huge breath in and go tense, holding it for a while as his face does all the classic “surprise” movements (raised eyebrows, open mouth, wide eyes). 

This gif follows the last gif immediately (they were one gif initially but it was too big).  As soon as Eggsy processes his surprise, his first reaction is to check in with Harry for his reaction and to scold Harry for taking excessive action.  I think this says a couple of things.  One: The fact that Eggsy’s reaction is to check Harry’s response makes me think that Eggsy doesn’t totally want to believe what he thinks he’s seen.  It feels to me a bit like he’s checking Harry’s reaction to gauge for a denial or a defense.  He’s scolding Harry for this, but he seems to be more than half expecting Harry to offer him a reasonable explanation.  He thinks Harry did something wrong here, but he also fully expects that Harry had justification that he will share.  Two:  Whether Harry has an explanation or not, Eggsy feels comfortable scolding him for this.  He feels Harry has crossed a line here, and he is comfortable enough to call Harry on it without fear that it will affect their relationship negatively.  He’s even comfortable being a bit petulant and snarky about it.  Both of these things, to me, indicate that Eggsy has a really deep well of trust in Harry and in their relationship.  

For specific body language, I’m looking at Eggsy’s stunned, open-mouthed expression, his furrowed brow, and the way he’s leaning completely around Merlin as though he’s just an inanimate object in order to see Harry.  Also, Eggsy does keep his hand in his pocket during this, which, for him, is normally a sign that he is relaxed and comfortable.  He’s been surprised and is extremely put off/unhappy, but he’s not feeling threatened by anything about this situation.  If he were, he would not still have his hand in his pocket (the other one is holding JB’s leash, which is not something he can alter to indicate feelings). 

Oh!  That’s not a pillar between Eggsy and Harry after all!  It’s a man, and he’s talking to Eggsy!  Better pay attention!  XD  (I’m sorry, I’m in a bit of a lol mood right now.)   But really, here we see Merlin begin his explanation (in the most blase voice possible omfg), which finally draws Eggsy’s focus back off of Harry.  Even with that, though, we can see Eggsy’s eyes flick rapidly back and forth between Merlin and Harry before he finally turns to look at the screen.  Honestly, I don’t think there’s all that much going on in this gif aside from that, as Eggsy is in processing mode, just trying to absorb the information after having his focus on Harry broken.  You can see, in the moment that he looks at the screen, that his mouth has closed, and he seems to have caught up at least a bit, though he’s still pretty put off by the exploding head (and possibly by Harry’s silence).    

Here Eggsy has finally processed everything and has rather returned to his normal self.  He’s content that Harry wasn’t responsible for the exploding head, and has had a few seconds to process the rest of the information.  Now, he’s just made a comment about Richmond Valentine being a genius, and Harry and Merlin are both like, “wtf are you on about”, and cute little muffin is all awkward and adorable, like, “Wtf, why are you guys so behind the times?” 

Also, his attention is still flitting really rapidly between the two of them.  He knows, in this case, that Merlin is the logical one to talk to (Harry has just woken up from a coma, why the fuck would he have seen the announcement?), but he can’t help but want to focus on Harry.  I don’t even care.  My analysis is I’m Hartwin trash.    

Haha, sweet baby getting all smiley like, “Oooh, Dad, Daddy, just you wait, I’m gonna show you something great.”  (Sorry, not sorry.)

Okay, but actually, obviously the important thing here, aside from his adorable little, “I’m comfortable and happy with my boss and my _boss (implied eyebrow waggle)”_ smile, is the fact that he just steals the clipboard from Merlin like nbd.

This is so cute.  Merlin is so scandalized, but he just lets it happen.  Obviously, they have built this rapport of Eggsy being respectful when it really matters, but also being a cheeky shit, and Merlin is just woefully accepting it, waiting to see what Eggsy is going to pull up.  I’m also willing to say Eggsy may be being extra cheeky for Harry’s benefit.  If anything, this whole hospital scene rather establishes that they flirt by being cheeky with each other (starting with the knocking thing and moving on through to all the interacting over Merlin and the clipboard thing).    

Look at him.  He thinks this is the coolest shit he’s ever seen.  Such a happy lil nut.  I guess this gif probably doesn’t need to be included, since he’s not actually interacting with Harry or Merlin, and actually is just really pleased by Valentine’s plan (sweet, naive little darling).  But he’s cute and lovely, and also made up of sunshine and pure goodness, so fuck it. 

So scandalized when Merlin took the clipboard lmao.  I think this is just further illustration of the comfort level they have achieved with each other, though.  It really does indicate this kind of casual animosity that lacks the teeth of their previous interactions.  Merlin’s annoyed he stole the clipboard and takes it back a little harshly, and Eggsy is like, “Aw man, no need to get snippy” (I mean look at his face, the half smirk/half frown, and the rolly/darty eyes).  They have an antagonistic relationship, but it’s friendlier now - it’s coming from a place of respect, even if they don’t necessarily like each other yet.  There is no bite to it.  Eggsy’s put off, but more in a pouty way than in a genuinely hurt way.

This is the greatest moment of my life. End analysis.

Okay, just kidding, we’re gonna talk about it.  Eggsy barely has a second to be butthurt about Merlin taking the clipboard before Harry and goes the exact same thing to Merlin that Merlin did to Eggsy, and then Eggsy makes that _fucking face_.

Look at him.  LOOK AT HIM.  HE’S BEAMING!!! AND HE’S TRYING TO HIDE IT AND IT STILL LOOKS LIKE THIS!!! WHAT THE FUCK????  When I say he’s trying to hide it, I’m specifically talking about how tight his mouth is.  That’s what people do when they really want to grin but are trying not to.  He’s forcibly holding his lips tight and keep them turned down even though his eyes and brow are in a massive glowy smile.  He is intensely amused by Harry right now, and it’s this obvious even though he’s trying to neutralize his expression.  What the actual fuck?  

Here is where things get a little serious again.  Harry has just said he thinks he needs to go see Valentine and this is Eggsy’s direct reaction.  His brow furrows pretty harshly and he frowns while looking back and forth between Harry and the screen.  I think Eggsy is worried here.  Harry has just woken up from the coma, and already he’s volunteering himself to go out on a mission to deal with something where people’s heads have been exploding?  Just a few moments ago, Eggsy wasn’t suspicious of Valentine at all, but he is smart enough to pick up on the fact that Valentine is now someone to be wary of, and Harry has just volunteered to put himself in danger.  Eggsy isn’t going to say anything, because he knows Harry, and he knows Kingsman, but that doesn’t mean he’s not worried.  His face really says it all.  (Also, after this, as Merlin is explaining the dangers, Eggsy focus on him is intense.  Eggsy is a very active listener in times like this, throughout the film.  He wants to make sure he has all the information he needs to inform his emotions and actions.)

  


This scene is so important to me as a display of Eggsy and Roxy’s friendship and Eggsy’s prowess as a friend.  I discussed this scene a fair bit in my meta about [Eggsy and women](http://turtlenovas.tumblr.com/post/134721669155/so-earlier-when-i-was-writing-my-post-about-eggsy), but obviously we’re gonna cover it here, too.  

I love the whole skydiving sequence because it really shows us Eggsy’s priorities as a person.  Roxy and Eggsy are in direct competition for the Lancelot position, and honestly, at this point, it’s already become fairly clear that Roxy is his toughest competition.  Still, Eggsy prioritizes their friendship over his chance to gain unfair advantage and chooses to help her overcome her fears and complete the task the way he knows she can.  

In this specific portion of the scene, he recognizes that Roxy is in need of comfort, and he reaches out to touch her knee.  This kind of gesture is a classic example of reinforcing what you’re saying through touch.  Here he is telling her how great she’ll do, smiling at her comfortingly.  He reaches out to touch her knee in order to forge a more immediate connection before reminding her that she is top of the class, and then giving her that beaming smile.  In this moment, the competition means nothing to Eggsy.  He sees his friend is suffering, and he refuses to stand by and let her psych herself out.  

Interestingly, we don’t see him provide this kind of physical reinforcement of his words to anyone else in the movie except his mother and sister, which I think speaks again to his greater comfort around women than men, as well as his more feminized emotional default.  

I think this is as much Eggsy’s natural emotional state as anything else we see in the film.  When he is alone, he reverts to this type of overt emotional response (we see this several times - when he’s looking in the mirror at the start, when he pulls the gun on JB, watching Harry in the church scene, and a few others).  Even at the start of the film, when he was with Jamal and Ryan, this softness showed through a little (though not as much) - I would argue because those are the men he trusts most at that point in time.  He has strong empathy and compassion, and we see that very obviously.  Normally, I would consider that perhaps he only behaves this way with women (and alone) because he is trying to maintain his masculinity around his male peers.  That doesn’t really ring true to me, though, when, in this scene (and others where he is similarly open), he is literally surrounded by his male peers.  Also, in some of the upcoming scenes with Harry, he is very emotionally obvious and vulnerable, even without physical contact, in a way that is very much not traditionally masculine.  I really appreciate that Eggsy has no hesitation about “feminizing” himself in this way, as this type of tender communication and reassurance is often seen as the antithesis of masculinity.  I honestly think it says a lot, in itself, about his respect for women (as much of the machismo laden behavior of men in our societies comes from a place of misogyny), and this moment with Roxy is just one great example.  

Next we have Eggsy resorting to a different tactic to console Roxy.  Now it’s time for them to jump, and she’s had a moment of panic right as they’re about to go.  He grabs hold of her, and very firmly tells her to stop fucking about.  He is unwilling to jump without at least trying to give her one last kick in the pants.  He’s recognized that now is the time to galvanize rather than comfort her.  Still, he can’t quite get by with only being harsh, and he follows it up with a gentle, slightly pleading, “Follow me, yeah?”

He really wants her to jump.  She is his friend, and he can’t stand to see her struggling so hard against her fears, possibly giving up a chance that he knows is extremely important for her.  He can’t force her to jump, nor would he try, but he’s going to do everything he can in these seconds to encourage her to do it.

Now, here is the final step in Eggsy’s “encourage Roxy” plan.  He just gtfo’s out of the plain like it’s no big deal.  I mean, I’m not sure he was all that nervous about it to begin with, but I think this is probably the most nonchalant way you can possibly jump out of a plane.  He doesn’t look, he just steps backwards off the edge, hands out like it’s no big deal.  This is all for Roxy’s benefit.  He’s saying, look, follow me, it’s no big deal, we’re gonna do it together, and I’m not worried _at all_.  Honestly, he’s such a good friend.

This is just lovely.  Technically, Eggsy is the one here who probably had the most reason to be freaking the fuck out (I mean, yes, they both had reason, but Eggsy is the one who thinks he just did that jump with no parachute), and yet still, he recognizes that Roxy is in need of comfort, and he provides it immediately.  He takes her hand in his and gives her a nice “we’re here, we made it, we’re both alive, you did good” pat, and it’s beautiful.  This is a great moment for demonstrating the closeness that Eggsy and Roxy have (which has probably just increased exponentially with that jump). 

Rage mode: activate.  Now that the initial adrenaline rush of making the jump with no chute has worn off, Eggsy is enraged.  I think in this moment, he is feeling really betrayed.  All that trust and rapport he built up with Merlin, and for some reason, he was the candidate that was expendable?  I think he’s confused, and angry, and has made his own conclusions about why he didn’t get a chute, and you can see him just barely restraining himself here, waiting for the chance to lash out and confront Merlin.

He is standing very rigidly here, his entire body pulled tight, and when he’s looking at Merlin, his head is pushed forward, his eyes boring in.  It’s threatening.  When he’s not looking at Merlin, he’s jerking to look at the people Merlin is addressing.  His movements are knife sharp, and he always looks back at Merlin quickly.  Also, you can see he’s breathing very hard.  This is classic “rageful stillness” Eggsy, waiting for his chance to slip into “bravado” Eggsy when he confronts Merlin. 

Now, as everyone else is walking off, Eggsy is able to pop off, and he enters bravado mode.  I think by using this really over-confrontational language (”Sorry, sir! But why the fuck did you choose me as the gimp?  Am I the expendable candidate?”), Eggsy is masking a genuine feeling of hurt - not only anger, but betrayal.  The only real comparison we have for Eggsy going off is when he’s talking to Harry in the pub, but I think, just from seeing those two scenes, the difference is obvious.  Sure, his tone is very similar, but beyond that I think it’s apparent that in the pub scene, Eggsy was _not_ presenting any bravado, but here he is.

For one, in the pub scene, while Eggsy is hurt, his anger is righteous, and he is on the offense because he _knows_ he’s right and that Harry has no ground to stand on.  Here, though, he is lashing out, voicing his own insecurities as accusations, which is a classic deflection technique (you feel and/or fear something personally, so instead of giving someone else the chance to hurt you with it, you accuse them of it first and put them on the defensive instead of yourself).  Also, I think Eggsy’s body language fits in with this, as he is not in a defensive stance at all.  His open and gesticulative, which fits in with the assessment that he’s going on the offense in order to protect himself, especially when we compare it to his relatively spare amount of movement in the pub scene.  In both cases his body is open, but here he is using much more sweeping motions, being much more challenging, almost spoiling for a fight, rather than making a point (and we also have totally seen bravado!Eggsy spoiling for a fight in the past).  

The analysis of this one is basically just a continuation of what I said in the last gif.  He’s just being really over the top confrontational here.  He’s got the super tight frown, the jutted out chin, and the devil may care “What the fuck, yeah I’ll come closer” move with his arm and head.  If the last part didn’t convince you that he is using bravado, then this should.  It’s so over the top it’s almost comical, if it weren’t for the fact that he’s obviously hurting.

Faith in Merlin: restored.  It takes him a hot second to process what just happened, and he’s looking around a little confused, a little wtf, but then his face opens up into that smile, and it’s like it never happened.  I love that instead of just telling him he had a parachute all along, Merlin did it this way, because it fits perfectly into their antagonistic yet friendly dynamic.  Like this was Merlin going tit for tat, retaliating against Eggsy for assuming he’d broken their trust, and you can see in Eggsy’s face here that he’s just like, “Yeah, okay, I deserved that, we’re cool after all.”

This is a JB moment. :3  The important thing to note in this gif is JB sprawled over Eggsy’s lap.  When the camera is scrolling through the room to set the scene for this, we see the other two dogs laying on pallets at the end of their candidates’ beds.  Then we see the candidates themselves, and where is JB?  In Eggsy’s lap, cool as a cucumber.  Eggsy loves his dog so fucking much.  I have no doubt that even if JB were a large breed, he would be right there at Eggsy’s side.  After all, JB is also the only dog who, as a puppy, didn’t sleep in a kennel.  Also, there is a pretty good sense of familiarity between the two of them here, as JB isn’t disturbed by Eggsy’s movement for the entire scene, and Eggsy just maneuvers around him as needed.  This is a pet owner who is used to being dog furniture.  Eggsy is a big old softy for JB.

There’s not a whole lot going on here, but I just wanted to point out the casual way Eggsy’s hangin’ with Roxy.  Obviously, he wasn’t going to go sit next to Charlie (actually Charlie is not even on the couch lol), but he didn’t really need to move at all.  He just wants to go over and sit next to his bro while he’s feeling bad, and she’s like, “Okay, yeah, I’ll make room for you bb”.  I dunno, I just like their casual broship.   

Again, I guess not a whole lot to say/analyze, especially since you probably don’t really control yourself much while passing out, but I guess I like that they slump on each other.  Maybe not intentional, but gosh, it’s a metaphor for their friendship. xD Lean on each other no matter what!  Even if you’ve just been drugged!  I don’t know. >_>

Lmao, so the body language here is pretty clear: very confused, and then very surprised, and then very annoyed.  Eggsy was obviously not expecting that this was a test, and was really quite fucking surprised to see Harry there.  I love how, even once he registers that it’s Harry, he’s giving him the worlds biggest stink eye.  He’s just like, “really, bruv? really?” as the platform starts to raise again.

Now he’s being raised up, and he’s still a little wtf and stink eye, but he’s also got a little bit of relief about him.  His face relaxes a bit, and you can see him breathing a little easier.  His hands relax away from his body, still in fists, but not squeezed so tight it makes his skin blotchy, and not pulled so close to him anymore, because he’s not trying to curl in himself protectively anymore.  He also cocks his head to the side, almost like he’s silently asking what’s next.  He’s pretty annoyed here, and pretty unhappy with what just happened, but he’s resigned to it now that he’s seen Harry and knows he’s gonna be fine.

When Harry says, “Bloody well done,” Eggsy lets out this really obvious sigh of relief, looks around a bit, and then seems to accept that as meaning it’s over and asks how the others did.  There’s not all that much to analyze here (seems like this part will be somewhat short overall lol), but I just wanted to include it for that sigh of relief and the checking around, and the taking comfort from Harry’s words even though he’s still really annoyed. 

Huffy lil baby just wants to get untied. XD I think he’ll probably appreciate in two minutes that Harry is relating to him on the level of snarking at Charlie, but right now, he’s just annoyed to still be tied up.  He says, “Yeah, alright,” but kind of shakes his arms a little bit and gestures with his head like, “Now untie me, you butt”.  I dunno, I probably didn’t need to include all these gifs, but Eggsy is a cutey, and the scene is a good example of how comfortable they are with each other, and how well they know each other, while also showing that they can be pissy at each other (or at least, Eggsy can be pissy at Harry…Harry’s really quite proud xD).

Eggsy is fronting so hard here lmao.  I’m not sure I really have an opinion on _why_ he’s standing there like he’s in full defiance mode, but…he definitely is.  I mean look at that chin.  He’s got his head tilted so hard, Merlin could practically see up Eggsy’s nostrils if he tried.  Nevermind how tight Eggsy’s mouth is in that frown.  Also, while Eggsy’s hands are in his pockets here, his thumbs are out (not necessarily a sign of anything on it’s own) and he’s actually gripping very tightly at the pocket seams, which is in contradiction to his usual relaxed pocket mode (it reads much more as “trying to seem relaxed” than “actually relaxed”).  This is definitely one of the few times in this meta where the body language is saying something really obvious and I haven’t got much of an opinion on why.  Maybe he’s still feeling a little defensive after the test, maybe he’s angry at how Charlie just gave up, maybe he’s annoyed that Merlin congratulated Galahad and Percival, instead of the actual candidates who are also standing right there (actually, I think that one might be my favorite of these options).  I don’t know.  Interpret as you will.

This is right after Merlin told Eggsy his father had reached this point.  Eggsy’s eyes very subtly slide in Harry’s direction (even though Harry is standing behind him), and then flick forward again, but not to Merlin.  I feel like this comment actually affected Eggsy quite a bit, but as he’s trying to keep the stoic front up right now, he’s not going to show it.  Also, when his eyes come forward at the end, he’s squinting, like maybe he’s trying to mask his emotions even further.  Kudos to him, he’s much more unreadable here than he has been at any other point.  It kind of makes me wonder if that’s their training/some sort of directive for this meeting or not.  It’s also interesting to me (but not surprising) that the mere mention of Eggsy’s father brings association with Harry.  I think this moment really reinforces the fact that, of the many roles Harry plays in Eggsy’s life, a window to get to know Lee is one of them.  It’s no coincidence that he immediately sought out Harry’s reassurance at the mention (even he wasn’t actually able to get it).  

Lastly for this part and this scene, Eggsy and Roxy checking in with each other when Merlin says there will be no more safety nets.  They are both doing the controlled stoicism thing here, but I think the fact that they look at each other like this is really a motion of comfort and friendship between them.  They both want to acknowledge the other before acknowledging Merlin.  This is a moment of mutual respect. Neither of them is going to give up, and they both respect that about each other and want to acknowledge that they are taking these risks together.  There was never any universe in which these two would resent each other of the other person won, and I love that.

  


Lmao but what are they doing here?  Like Harry is just hanging out at his desk letting Eggsy wander around his office???  And Eggsy is being a cheeky lil butt asking about the newspaper articles?  I don’t even.  Why is this how they’re using their 24 hours?  Maximum flirting potential?  I don’t even know. 

Okay, but let’s analyze.  Because that’s why we’re here.  Even if I’m sick and coughing up a lung, I said get it done by Friday.  I will get it done by Friday.  What is he doing?  He’s bein’ cheeky.  He’s bein’ curious.  He’s making hooded eye contact and smirkin’ a lil bit.  What does it all mean?  It means he thinks Harry’s fuckin’ weird and he wants to bang that drum til it breaks.  

I mean…

Maybe I didn’t actually need to include this gif?  He’s really cute tho, so fuck it.  I’m pretty sure this statement will apply to a few gifs in this part. >______>

Harry says, “That was the headline the day after I defused a dirty bomb,” and Eggsy’s just like omg, I cannot believe.  Look how cute this is.  He puts his hand in his pocket and does a little disbelieving smirky/smile thing.  He’s got the eyebrows raised.  He’s so pleased and a little wtf.  Like, he’s probably still thrown off by all silly headlines, and I’m guessing this isn’t at all what he imagined Harry’s office would be like, but just look at him.  He’s so very pleased. 

I love his little disbelieving head shake here.  Like, he can’t quite comprehend how casually Harry is talking about these things, these _great_ things he’s done.  Then he turns to scan the wall, and it’s almost as if he’s starting to conceptualize that every one of those front pages is a mission, and this is his chance to learn more about Harry and about Kingsman at the same time.  He sucks his lips in as he’s looking, like he’s trying to keep himself from saying something.  What? I don’t know? a statement of awe? Maybe one of disbelief, that he’s biting back because he _does_ believe, even if it seems absurd?  I have no idea.  Maybe he’s just wanting to keep a lid on it until he decides what to ask about next.

This is flirting???????  I mean, for real?  This is a flirty fucking thing to do?  This is not platonic eye contact.  Eggsy eyes the wall, finds the one he wants to ask about, and then turns back to Harry, hands still in his pockets ( _emphasizing the exaggerated movement of his hips, even as his thumbs are basically pointing to his crotch_ ), and then walks backwards while maintaining eye contact and a smirk.  This is literally a come hither walk.  Sure, Eggsy isn’t actually trying to get Harry to fuck him right now (I mean, that’s debatable, but we’re going with no), but I really don’t think there’s ground to stand on arguing that this isn’t flirtation.

Aww, my sweet son.  This is just after Harry says the thing about gentlemen appearing in the newspaper only three times, and them being first and foremost gentlemen.  Then Eggsy responds by saying, “That’s me fucked, then,” and sinking back in the chair with that kind of nonchalant hand wave.  I actually think he’s feeling a bit self-conscious here, though, as he averts his gaze right after he says it.  He’s not necessarily apologizing, because he’s already decided many times over that he’s not going to apologize for who he is, to Harry or anyone else.  He is, I think, perhaps a bit worried that this conversation is leading to Harry thinking less of him or judging him.  No, he’s not going to apologize, but he also wants Harry to think highly of him, and he’s just admitted that he can’t live up to Harry’s gentlemanly standard (as, I think the implication is that he’s been in the papers before, probably for unsavory reasons…or simply that he doesn’t find himself to be capable of being a gentleman).  

This is a vulnerable moment for him.  It’s almost as though the motion with his hands is inviting Harry to respond negatively, because that’s what he’s expecting.  If he acts nonchalant about it and moves his body like, “yeah, I know I’m a failure, what are you gonna do about it?” then it won’t hurt as much.  This is very similar to the thing he did in the parachute scene with Merlin where he uses his insecurities first before someone else can point them out/use them against him.  The difference here is that he doesn’t have any anger about it, just a sort of resignation.  (It’s worth noting that after this moment, he does look back up and make eye contact with Harry.  He’s feeling vulnerable, and he’s somewhat resigned to probably getting negative feedback, but he’s involved in the conversation, and he still does trust Harry not to make him feel too terrible.)

Here is his response to Harry telling him that being a gentleman is something one learns.  He’s a little happy, a little disbelieving, a little wondrous (the wonder is mostly in his tone of voice, so it’s kind of lost in the gif).  I think the combo of the smile and the head shake here is important.  He’s smiling, happy that Harry isn’t actually leading up to disparaging him in any way, happy that Harry seems to think there’s hope for him, but he also can’t really see where that hope lies.  He’s shaking his head as he asks, to reinforce the idea that he’s not sure there really is a way for him to learn to be a gentleman.  He wants to believe it, and he’s happy Harry believes it, but he’s not sure he can believe it.  

This makes me incredibly sad.  In what world is this level of disappointment an appropriate reaction to someone telling you that you should’ve asked before taking a seat?  Harry isn’t being overly harsh here, he’s literally just made the statement, straightforward, but with no scolding or accusation in his tone, but Eggsy’s disappointment is really clear.  It’s such a minor thing, and yet he looks like he really feels like shit about it.  He looks down again for a moment before drawing his eyes back up, focused away from Harry, he sighs a little bit, and he flops his head back.  It all really reads like, “Ah fuck, I fucked up.”  I don’t think it would be so bad if his expression weren’t so clearly somber.  To me, it just really feels like a very strong, sad reaction to something that is relatively minor.  It passes pretty quickly, of course, as Harry moves on almost immediately to the lighthearted martini making comment, and Eggsy is pulled out of it into the next gif’s reaction.

Lol look at my little baby, so happy to go make martinis and not be being scolded.  He’s so pleased!  HE’S SO PLEASED.  I LOVE HIM SO MUCH.  LOOK AT HIS BEAUTIFUL, RADIANT SMILE???  Also what is up with that little closed eyes inhale he does before he says, “Yes, Harry”?  Like, Eggsy, babe, you turned on or something?  What is going on?  I don’t even know.  I have no useful analysis of this, except look how quickly Harry was able to bring him back from that disappointment.  He’s been utterly soothed here and has become an actual ray of sunshine.  I’m just????  Send help.

HAHA WOW HARTWIN IS SO REAL.  THIS IS THE LOOK ON EGGSY’S FACE WHEN HE ASKS IF HARRY IS GOING TO TEACH HIM HOW TO TALK PROPER LIKE IN MY FAIR LADY.  WHAT?  WHAAAAAT? WHY? WHAT? HARTWIN IS REAL OH MY GOD.  EGGSY WANTS THAT D.  EGGSY LOVES HARRY.  EGGSY IS SO SMITTEN. SEND HELP. SEND HELP.  I CANNOT HANDLE.  FUCK FUCK FUCK.

Okay, so now that that’s out of the way.  Let’s talk about how Eggsy is looking straight at Harry the entire time they’re walking, rather than looking ahead.  Normally when you talk to someone you’re walking side by side with, you keep your eyes ahead, and simply glance over every once in a while to forge the connection (that’s what Harry is doing).  It makes sense.  It helps you avoid unfortunate accidents like walking the fuck into stuff.  You don’t maintain this type of head turn while walking unless you are a super dumb and in love fluffy baby bird.  I mean…honestly.  Particularly, you don’t do it while casting yourself in this type of romanticized role (the My Fair Lady reference) opposite the person you’re talking to.  Particularly, you don’t do it with this kind of dreamy smile on your face.  I mean, look at this stupid dorito. He’s so in love.  What in the actual fuckle fucks?  I cannot.  Also I guess I’ll point out his relaxed posture.  He’s got his hands in his pockets, he’s got a really loose stride.  He’s totally at ease making this reference, with these heart eyes, with everything.  I mean, maybe he’s just unaware about how dumbly in love he looks, but even so.  He’s not on guard at all.  Precious little muffin bottom.

Aww, Harry said, “Don’t be absurd” and Eggsy’s face did this.  It totally crumpled in the space of time it took Harry to say that, and then it starts to lift again almost immediately when Harry continues on about how being a gentleman has nothing to do with one’s accent.  Like, honestly, bb was so disappointed Harry was calling his My Fair Lady reference absurd.  My poor lil lovestruck honey bee.  Look at his mouth tilting back up at the end here, all hesitant like he’s not sure if he’s been scolded or not, but he likes what Harry’s said.      

I quit.

There is nothing to say about this.

Look how soft his face his.  Just look at it.  

How the hell were we supposed to read this as platonic?  I do not understand?  Look at his eyes tracking Harry.  He’s literally giving Harry a once over as he walks away.  He is slack-jawed.  He is smiling.  He is tilting his head for a better view.  

I fucking quit!  I am handing in my resignation.  

Hartwin is real.

I’m including this gif, not because I have anything useful to say, but because his face is beautiful, and it makes me feel _all kinds_ of ways.  Also, I guess, he seems v. pleased with what has just transpired (most likely the view of Harry’s derriere ascending the stairs).

OH MY GOD HE’S SO….

He’s listening to Harry talk about the bespoke suits, nodding along with a little smirk like, “Yeaaah, I’m gettin a suit.  Awwwright.”  And then Harry says they’re all bulletproof, and he just kind of goes all still like, “No fucking way!”  And it’s adorable.  He’s adorable.  And pleased.  And happy. And cute.  And laser focused on Harry like what.  And a sweet little muffin who deserves all the good things in this entire world, up to and including bulletproof bespoke suits and the love of a distinguished gentleman.  Thank you Harry for providing these things.

(We may have gone off the rails again.  >_>)

WHAT THE FUCK?

WHAT IS THIS SMILE?

WHAT A STUPID FUCKING DORITO BIRD.

I HATE.

Jk, I fucking love him.  Look how pleased he is, and also…he’s doing the thing where he’s actually trying to hold in his smile a bit, but he’s beaming so hard it’s coming out anyways.  Also, I love the shape of his stupid smile.  What the fuck.  

Okay, I’m just going to save us all the trouble and copy-paste a [meta ](http://turtlenovas.tumblr.com/post/135604658888/)I already wrote about this moment.  Normally I’d just link it, but this moment is extremely important to me.  There’s not a whole lot of body language analysis, but I don’t care. (This is the cherry popping comment btw) If you’ve already read this, congrats, just skip to the last paragraph.

This scene is so fucking important to me, and not just because it’s hilarious, and Eggsy loses his shit, and the tailor is like, “lol I’m on the Office”.  This scene is important to me because it really shows how utterly enamored Eggsy is with Harry, and it also shows how much Harry cares for Eggsy.  

Like, as far as how this scene shows that Eggsy is taken with Harry, just look at his fucking face in all of these.  That’s it.  That’s the evidence.  But like, what kills me is that Eggsy has probably never had a person he has felt so strongly about before.  He is, after all, very young.  I’m sure he has had crushes, and been infatuated, and dated lots of girls (and maybe boys, but I have trouble envisioning him feeling safe enough for anything but quick fucks with boys), but I don’t think he has ever had this kind of deep connection to someone outside of family.  Harry is _so many_ things to Eggsy.  

I think we can extrapolate that he is the first positive male influence Eggsy’s ever had in his life (at least after Lee died).  He is Eggsy’s best connection to his father, and his best window to get to know his father.  He is someone who is willing to guide Eggsy and teach him things without making Eggsy feel inferior.  He acknowledges Eggsy’s worth in real and meaningful ways.  He’s given Eggsy the chance to get out of the vicious cycle of his life, and to make something of himself.  He listens to what Eggsy says, and acknowledges when Eggsy calls him on shit and is right.  He is the _only person_ who as ever taken action against and vengeance for Eggsy’s abuse.  He is probably the only man that Eggsy has felt genuinely safe with in a very long time (again, probably since before Lee died).  Also, he plays all of these roles, which would typically put them on unequal footing, and yet still they come off as equals on a personal level.  (Sure, Eggsy is largely Harry’s subordinate in the film, but on a _personal_ level, they aren’t unequal.) Like, Eggsy is deeply emotionally invested in Harry on so many levels, it’s kind of painful to think about.  Like, yes, he’s infatuated also, but the reason I ship it is because, underneath that infatuation, is all of this other stuff that is the basis for a strong, loving, respectful relationship.  

As for Harry.  I love that this scene shows us Harry taking care of Eggsy in this way.  Like, this joke, on the surface seems like just a stupid, flirtatious innuendo, but to me, this joke is Harry acknowledging that Eggsy has things to give him too.  This joke is not gentlemanly or becoming of someone of Harry’s stature to make.  It’s silly, and inappropriate, and he makes the joke _solely_ for Eggsy’s benefit.  He’s not trying to make Mr. Tailor Guy laugh.  He’s not making the joke for himself.  He looks straight at Eggsy and then makes the joke.  He’s inviting Eggsy’s personality into this situation which is otherwise, entirely Harry’s world.  Like, throughout the film, we see Harry caring for Eggsy in a lot of very _Harry_ ways, but this one, I think is really Harry reaching out to Eggsy and saying, “Look, I am relating to you from your standpoint rather than my own.  This relationship is an equal sharing of personalities, and I am influenced by you as much as you are by me.”  

Honestly.  They are so in love and care about each other so much.  I cannot handle.

If you want body language: Eggsy has the hands in pocket comfy slouch.  He gives the silly laugh, and then looks to the tailor guy all proud of Harry’s joke.  He’s beaming.  I mean, it doesn’t really require analysis.  It’s just really obvious.

AHHHH CUTE LIL BABY KNOWS HE’S IN FOR SOMETHING GOOD.  HE’S SO EXCITED.  OH MY GOD LOOK AT HIM.  WHAT A CUTE LITTLE NUT.

He’s so pleased Harry’s gonna show him something neat.  He’s all smiley and bouncy and anticipatory.  My sweet, precious son.  He totally knows Harry is gonna blow his mind, and he’s ready and excited about it.  Babe.

FIRTY. DARLING. FUCKING FUCK.

Okay, I _love_ that instead of just pulling the hook and going straight in, Eggsy chooses to look back and share his delight with Harry. He’s clearly so fucking pleased and anticipatory, but he knows that Harry is as much invested in Eggsy’s reaction as Eggsy is in what he’s being shown, so he makes sure to look back at Harry, all happy and teasing as he walks in.  He’s so excited, and he wants to share it with Harry, because Harry is giving him this gift.  Also, I adore that throughout this whole scene (starting on the sidewalk when they were walking up), Eggsy has been able to show this boyish kind of glee.  He is fully enjoying himself, and feels no need to put any sort of damper on it.  He feels safe in Harry’s hands, knows that Harry is showing him cool stuff and taking care of him, and he appreciates it and is enjoying it fully.  He’s probably never had the chance for a fun day like this with someone who wants to and is able to spoil him the way Harry is doing.  I love it.  I love his unadulterated joy.  I love his desire to share that with Harry.  I love everything about all of this.  

“Oxfords not brouges? 8D 8D *nodnodnodnod* <3 <3 <3″

Honestly.  On the one hand, this is the face of Eggsy learning something and making a connection that he wasn’t previously able to make.  On the other hand, what is with this slow smile, and the heart eyes?  This is him learning something new and making a connection that he wasn’t previously able to make in relation to the man he is clearly fucking besotted with.  

I’m afraid it will be my ghost writing the rest of this meta, as I have expired from looking at this gif.

HAHA BYE WHAT THE FUCK.  “Your weapons scores are excellent.”  LOL WINK.  I AM FLIRTING WITH YOU EVEN THOUGH YOU AREN’T LOOKING AT ME. HAHAHA. 

WHAT THE FUCK EGGSY?  WHAT THE FUCK?  

Eggsy needs to take the subtlety course again.  I cannot deal with this.

(Also though, he’s really cute looking at the shoes, I cannot handle.)

Okay, so this is Eggsy being a gross little shit, obviously.  I think this is actually something pretty important, though.  You can see Eggsy contemplating for a second beforehand whether he’s going to do this or not.  He doesn’t know what Harry means when he asks for a German aristocrat’s greeting, and Eggsy is debating whether to just own up to, or to be a fucking dumbass.  He knows he’s being stupid.  He knows this offensive.  He’s being cheeky on purpose.  

I think he’s doing it as a demonstration (or maybe just an indication, not necessarily a conscious decision in this direction) of his trust in Harry.  This is not the type of thing a gentleman would do, and Eggsy knows it.  He knows he’s going to get a poor response for it.  He wants to see what that response will be, though.  He wants to see how harshly he will be scolded.  I really think this is him testing the waters for how much of a little shit he can be without calling down Harry’s wrath.  It says a lot that they’ve gotten to this point, when just a little while ago, we saw Eggsy feeling really down about having _sat down without asking_.   

This is a dumb, offensive moment, but I do think it says a lot about the progression of Harry and Eggsy’s relationship, and Eggsy’s comfort level with Harry.   

  


Okay, I love that, as much as he’s being flirty, and cheeky, and just plain excited, he’s also listening extremely closely to what Harry is saying.  Let no one ever say that Eggsy is not an active listener and desperately interested in learning.  He wants to win the Lancelot slot, he wants this to be his future, and he knows that Harry, in addition to being all the other things he is to Eggsy, is an excellent agent, and a great font of information on that front.  As much as anything else in this scene, Eggsy wants to learn about this shit!

As for body language, his face is totally enraptured.  His mouth his hanging open, he’s keeping his eyes directly on Harry, even as he’s taking off his shoes, and he’s even following Harry with the motion of his head, nodding along to show he’s listening.  He’s very invested.

I’m gonna…

He’s so cute.  I cannot deal with this shit?  What the fuck?   He’s playing with it, he wants to know what it does, and he comes up with the most ridiculous thing he think of, I think in an effort to tease Harry.  He does that cute little head shake and smirk when he says, “electrocute you”, like he’s so pleased at the thought that something so ridiculous might be plausible.  Also, I love that little eyebrow raise and the shoulder lean.  Like, he’s not even flirting and he’s flirting. It’s hardwired in.  

HIS FIRST REACTION IS TO LOOK TO SEE HOW IT WORKS.  EGGSY.  BABY.  I LOVE YOU.  He’s so cute.  I mean, I guess…this isn’t totally Harry body language, since he’s as into the hand grenade as he is Harry at this point, but I don’t care.  He’s adorable.  He’s being cute and cheeky and open and putting all that vulnerable wonder on display for Harry, so I’m still counting it.  Get rekt.  Also, I love the way he says shut up.  It’s fucking cute.  Bye.

So rapt, so focused, so ready to learn.  This is really just a continuation of what I said earlier about him being an active listener, who, as much as he wants to flirt with Harry and have a good time, is also ravenously picking up all the information that will help him in what he hopes will be his future job.  As closely as he was just looking at the lighter, he’s looking at Harry’s hand to confirm he will know how the ring works (and thank goodness he’s paying attention - we all saw how well it pays off later!).  

Lmao okay, the first time I saw this, I thought it was meant to show us how bad he is at sleight of hand, but it turned out it was just foreshadowing about the scene with Arthur at the end. XD  I love his “I’m totally innocent and not doing anything bad” face here.  I love how he genuinely thinks this shit is going to work on Harry, even though he’s directly in Harry’s peripheral.  Or maybe he doesn’t and he’s just testing Harry again (the way I think he was with the  Nazi salute).  I don’t know, but I do know that Eggsy is hella cute.  Okay.

Okay, so this makes me think maybe he was just testing boundaries with Harry by taking it.  He turns around pretty instantaneously and puts it back with out any fuss or negativity.  Maybe he was just seeing if Harry would notice?  I mean, I can totally see him stealing it for the sake of being able to brag that he took it out from under Harry’s nose, but giving it back immediately afterwards.  Whatever the case, his little twirl around is fucking adorable.  Also if it is what I’m wanting to say it is (testing boundaries/testing Harry’s skills), I love that we’re once again being shown how comfortable Eggsy really is with Harry.  He has no reason to trust authority figures in his life, no reason to test them like this, but with Harry, it just comes naturally to him.  A+ good shit.

This is Eggsy’s first time seeing Valentine in person, and this is actually the scene that made me realize in the first place Eggsy’s habit of going tight when he can’t put on bravado.  Less than a minute ago, Eggsy was loose, playful, flirty, happy, fluid, but the second they see Valentine, his entire body goes rigid.  He clenches his jaw, he’s breathing hard.  The only movement we really see him make is first to glance at Harry for reassurance and to see how they’re meant to play this, and then to eye Valentine up and down.  

I feel very comfortable stating that Eggsy is _scared_ here.  It’s pretty apparent through the whole scene, with how he holds himself, but especially in this part and the obvious change in demeanor from a moment ago.  He is so unsure, he can’t even think to bring up a bravado facade.  He’s basically just hanging on to Harry for dear life, looking for behavioral cues and trying to pretend he’s not panicking.  Also, he’s clearly assessing the situation trying to gather as much information as possible without showing that he is.  Again, Eggsy’s attention to information gathering is rapt (though here it’s obviously somewhat overshadowed by his clear panic).  We’ve see Eggsy in fight or flight before, and he’s showing all the same physical markers of it, except here he’s not allowed to move/indicate that he’s panicking.  

I also want to say again: I think Eggsy needs to be retrained on hiding his emotions.  He is being extremely obvious here, and if Valentine hadn’t already made Harry, I feel certain he would have after Eggsy’s behavior in this scene.  Poor baby.

Okay, so now Valentine is forcing Eggsy to interact, and I really think he probably did it on purpose, to try to get Eggsy to slip up after seeing him react so tensely to the situation.  Fortunately, Eggsy is smart enough to at least keep his mouth shut and let Harry take the reins explaining things.  Still, you can see how tense Eggsy still is in the way his mouth is drawn tight and his movements are stiff.  Also, he is making challenging eye contact with Valentine.  It’s totally inappropriate for someone meeting a person who has actually been quite friendly.  This is another dead give away by Eggsy that they are not who they say they are.  Please, for the love of God, someone send this boy back to acting class.

So, this is Eggsy interacting with Gazelle for the first time.  Gazelle comes forward, and Eggsy’s eyes immediately trail to her legs and get stuck there.  You can even see him trying to draw his gaze back up and failing.  He has identified a threat (a solid threat, not this nebulous threat that these two represent just by existing - Gazelle’s legs are a weapon, displayed in plain sight) and is struggling with his reaction.  Of course his instincts want him to respond defensively, to get to safety or neutralize the threat, but instead he must stand there and do nothing.  It’s tough for him, and you can really see him struggling with the whole situation. 

Look at this ragey eye contact he’s making with Gazelle.  He is so mad he can’t do anything about them right now despite the fact that the conversation that has just occurred was essentially “Threat Fest 2015″.  This glance is obviously foreshadowing that they are going to have a showdown later.  It’s only about a second long (probably less) for him to make eye contact with and her to give him a once over, but like…it feels like rivalry?  It’s insane.  The challenge in both of them is off the charts.  Eggsy wants to _fight her,_ and it’s written all over him _._

Harry asks the tailors to take care of Eggsy and turns to leave.  I think it’s pretty clear in Eggsy’s face here that he doesn’t want Harry to go.  Eggsy is in really dire need of reassurance.  He’s still tense and struggling to process everything that just happened.  His day was essentially flipped completely on its head (from lighthearted excursion with guy he really fucking likes, to encounter with a super villain), and it’s put him totally on edge in every way.  Now Harry is leaving.  

Eggsy obviously won’t say anything, because he understands how these things works.  He understands that he can’t stand in Harry’s way, that he can’t ask for reassurance, that he will need to learn to handle shit like this on his own.  But you can see in the widening of his eyes, in the way he lurches just slightly after Harry before stilling himself and just following with his gaze, he doesn’t want Harry to leave.  

Alternatively (or perhaps, I think more likely, in addition to those feelings), I think he knows Harry is going to pursue this lead and Eggsy now feels more personally invested and wants in as well.  Like I said, he wants to fight Gazelle.  He’s angry.  I think he both doesn’t want Harry to leave/wants assurance and also wants to go with Harry and help mete out the justice, even though he is still only a candidate.  A little bit of mixed emotion there, but I think either is plausible, and both at once is most likely.

Now for Eggsy’s first real interaction with Arthur (provided him blatantly ignoring him in the hospital scene wasn’t an intentional show of disrespect, but rather a case of unknown identity).  Eggsy is actually remarkably hesitant and deferent here, showing that he is, actually, despite all appearances, capable of respectfully acknowledging authority when it’s necessary.  Methinks he’s well aware of Arthur’s disdain for his candidacy and isn’t too keen to make himself look worse in the eyes of the leader of the organization.   

The body language I’m looking at here is that he comes in very delicately.  He opens the door quietly and only peeks half in, shuffling a bit behind the door, almost using it as a shield.  His voice also is very soft and gentle.  He’s really doing his best not to provoke any negative response here.  

He’s so happy to talk about JB.  Eggsy is an A+ pet owner.  Look at his cute little affectionate smile.  Also just after this, when Arthur is trying to guess JB’s namesake, and Eggsy is looking a little chagrined, but still pleased, it’s all very cute.  It does say a bit about Eggsy and Arthur’s relationship, though, that he feels chagrined telling Arthur that JB stands for Jack Bauer.  It’s not a stupid name by any means (at least not in comparison to the ones Arthur has guessed so far), so it goes to show that Eggsy rather just expects Arthur to think poorly of him, or react negatively.  Their relationship, while seemingly positive in the first few minutes of this exchange, is definitely tenuous.  Eggsy is really quite subdued during this whole encounter - not his usual self at all.

This is Eggsy’s response to Arthur saying, “It pains me to admit it, Eggsy, but I think that one day, you might be as good a spy as any of us.”  

I just really want to talk about what a  _gracious_  response this is.  Eggsy has every right to be offended by this backhanded compliment, and we have seen that this kind of thinking is actually an insecurity of his, but here, he smiles instead.  It’s not his usual beaming smile, and he does look away as he’s doing it (which indicates to me that he’s trying to hide something, probably a little bit of hurt).  He is accepting that comment for the peace offering he thinks it’s meant to be.  He is conceding that Arthur is stuck in his ways, and that this is probably the best he’s going to get out of him, so he just smiles and accepts it as a compliment, even though it’s not.  Even though it’s hurtful, and pokes at Eggsy’s insecurities.  

Gracious is the only word to describe this reaction, and I love Eggsy so much, and it makes the next part hurt even more, tbh.

He’s confused and hurt.  Arthur is pointing a gun at him, just after Eggsy consciously worked them onto to some even footing, and Eggsy is confused and hurt.  You can see his brow furrow (without the harsh downward tilt of anger), and his frown, apparent, but not pulled tight.  His eyes are a little sad, and he draws himself up a bit (as one does when someone points a gun at them).  

After all his deference, and timidity, and gracious smiling, and the little banter they had, Eggsy is just…quietly injured by this.  Of course, soon (when Arthur provides more information) his reaction morphs a bit, but that’s his immediately response, before he really has a chance to process.  Quiet, confused sadness.  He’s done everything he can to make this man appreciate him, and yet here they are, and things have, once again, not turned out in Eggsy’s favor.

“Shoot the dog.”

And we see Eggsy’s face transform in the space of a second, from that gentle kind of confusion/sadness/hurt to anger.  It’s hard to really capture it in the gif, but Taron’s acting in this very short moment was really spectacular.  His brow unfurrows as understanding dawns, but his anger at the command is really apparent in the way his jaw goes completely taut.  His nostrils flair, his lip almost curls in disdain as he tenses up (just barely visible), and he swallows hard.  Then, in the space of that moment to the next, he seems to accept what he has been told to do, and turns to look at JB.  Still, this moment is intense and visceral, despite all of Eggsy’s iron control (and again, there is that utter stillness as a defense mechanism).

Also, I just want to say, I read a post once (that I really wish I had saved so I could credit back) that was talking about how Eggsy and Roxy were taking completely different tests here.  The way Arthur set this up for Eggsy, with JB right there instead of a fair distance away, with pulling the gun on him instead of respectfully handing it over with the warning that it was live, with lulling him into a sense of casual conversation beforehand, the better to take him off guard.  All of it was designed to make the test something completely different than what Roxy faced.  Like yeah, Eggsy failed a test, but it certainly wasn’t the same test that Roxy passed.  I dunno, it’s not so important for this meta, but it’s really important anyways.  

This is basically the only two seconds in the entire film where we might have thought Eggsy would actually shoot the dog, and even then, it’s really fucking obvious he isn’t going to.  His hand is shaking that hard, even though you fucking know he’s doing everything he can to hold it steady.  His face is already starting to break, despite the fact that this is the moment at which he resolved to do it.  You can see his mouth tremble as he tries to hold his scowl.  You can see him breathing deeply/harshly, trying to keep his nerve.  Literally, as quickly as he resolved to do it, his resolve is already crumbling, and it’s written all over his face.  

And it all comes tumbling down.  Notice, his hand is steady now that he’s decided he cant do it.  He breaks into the real sad frown, his brow furrowing, and this looks more like a cry face than any other emotion (especially considering the progression of emotion from the previous gif to this one - if you watch it, he’s clearly close to tears).  I mean, we can see in the next gif that he’s got anger in here, but in this moment, he is primarily experiencing anguish.  He knows that this means the end of the line for him.  He knows this means letting Harry down, relinquishing his chance for that brighter future.  He knows everything hinges on this moment. 

He knows all of that, but most of all, he knows he isn’t going to do it.

So here is the anger.  I think as far as his actual body language goes, it’s pretty self explanatory (he’s pointing a gun at the man while showing his classic anger face).  What I want to acknowledge here is _why_ he does this.

Eggsy feels betrayed by the demand that he shoot JB.  He has spent the entire film forging trust in Kingsman and the people in it, often against his instincts.  He has had to work extremely hard to overcome the “chip” on his shoulder.  Particularly, for this circumstance, he worked hard to accommodate Arthur being a total asshole to him, and he successfully learned to show deference and respect despite being treated like crap.  Not only that, but he worked hard to forge a bond with JB.  He struggled with that, as we saw earlier.  It wasn’t easy for him.  It didn’t come naturally to him.  He _struggled_.  And he did that at the behest of the organization.  The organization of which Arthur is head.  

It’s not unreasonable, then, that Eggsy would feel betrayed by the order to shoot that dog.  These people should know him well enough to know what the bond he forged with JB means to him.  They’ve been watching his every move for the last several months.  They saw his relationship with JB develop.   _They should know how much JB means to him._ (I’m not even going to discuss Eggsy’s ingrained compassion for all animals here, as I don’t think it’s relevant.)Yet still, Arthur makes this demand of him.

To Eggsy, it must seem unconscionably cruel.  Eggsy, who does not trust easily.  Eggsy, who gave up everything to learn to behave the way these people wanted, and who finally learned to trust them.  Eggsy, who has just now had the rug pulled out from under him in an unspeakable way.  They’re asking him once again to go against all of his instincts, to do something that contradicts everything in himself that he holds dear.  Specifically, Arthur is asking him.  Arthur being the one person in Kingsman Eggsy probably has the least reason to trust.  Arthur, who set this test up to achieve maximum penalty against Eggsy’s personality.  Arthur, who has been unfettered in his expression of disdain for Eggsy as a person and as a candidate.

So of course Eggsy is angry.  Eggsy is rageful.  Eggsy feels this is an utter betrayal of everything he has worked towards _and_ everything that he is.  Eggsy points the gun at Arthur with vengeance on his mind, in a moment of utter vulnerability.  He is taking control in the wake of this betrayal using the only method available to him.  

Once they hear the gunshot from Roxy’s room, and Arthur confirms it was Roxy shooting her dog, Eggsy seems to snap out of it a bit.  He’s still angry, but now the sadness returns.  It’s as if, realizing that they asked the same of Roxy, Eggsy is able to put aside the extremely personal feeling of betrayal, and return to the environment of the test.  Of course, he doesn’t know that he actually was put at a huge disadvantage here, but that’s beside the point.  

Here we can see his rage fade away in favor of his anguish.  This boy has just given up everything he has been working for.  He has just lost another dream that demanded he compromise himself (lest we forget, he left the marines because he found it untenable to leave his mother in distress).  The offering of the gun back to Arthur is Eggsy’s final act of surrender to this situation.  

He will never be Kingsman now.  He has failed.  It’s time for him to return the gun and leave. 

Again, I feel the body language here is fairly self explanatory.  His expression is nearly the same as it was when he chose not to shoot JB.  He is heartbroken.  The return of the gun is a clear act of acquiescence.

Here is Eggsy leaving the building after failing the dog test.  I think it’s really important that he’s carrying JB here.  We’ve seen that JB is very good at heel now, so this is not for the benefit of making sure JB follows him out.  Also, this isn’t for the benefit of comforting JB.  JB may have sensed some tension (as dogs do), but there is no way he can conceptualize to know enough to need to be carried as comfort.

Eggsy is carrying JB to comfort and reassure himself.  He walks out of the building, JB in his arms, takes a deep, steadying breath, and it’s obvious he’s still feeling the pain of what has just happened.  He pets JB while he’s holding him, reaffirming to himself that he did the right thing.  This is Eggsy comforting himself, like, yeah, he just gave up everything for a dog.  And yeah, it was the right fucking choice.

Bless Eggsy for his ability to muster up this kind of smile for JB, so soon after he’s lost everything.  Eggsy honestly doesn’t have a cruel bone in his body.  He’s just given up on the dream that he has been working towards for months.  The dream he most likely shed literal blood, sweat, and tears to achieve (hell, we saw him shed two of the three).  The dream which would have given him a meaningful purpose, which would have renewed his chance to achieve something great, which would have given him the tools necessary to escape his current situation and also to help his mother and sister escape.  He just lost out on all of that for JB.  

We’ve just seen him looking in the mirror, discontent written all over his face as he contemplates his return to this life.  Yet, still, he is able to summon up this affectionate look for his dog, who is sitting innocently on his bed.  Eggsy is a good fucking man.  Honestly.

Eggsy is a good fucking man who, now that he has the skill set to do something about it, is not going to let his mother’s black eye go unpunished.  I talked about this briefly in my meta about Eggsy and women, but that was mostly from the side of his interaction with his mum.  Now let’s talk about it from the side of this interaction with Dean.  

This is Eggsy too angry to put up any bravado, too vengeful to do anything but seek his retribution.  You can see the rage in every line of his body, in the deep, hooded eye contact he is making, in the severe downturn of his mouth, and the harshness of his breathing.  This is controlled rage, ready to be unleashed as soon as the opportunity arises.  Eggsy, as I’ve been saying, is in a place a deep emotional loss, and it has just been compounded by finding out that his mother has been beaten while he’s away.  He is fully prepared to cope by beating the shit out of Dean.  He is ready to mete out punishment, both for his mum’s sake, and as a form of catharsis.  Here, he truly does think he’s about to fulfill the prophecy that he made all those months ago to Jamal and Ryan (to bash Dean’s face in).  

Of course, vengeance wasn’t meant to be just yet, as Harry has now taken control of the cab and forced him to drive away.  I think, based on the vernacular Eggsy is using here (’bruv”), we can assume he knows it’s Harry piloting the car.

His rage and anguish here are pretty heartbreaking.  You can see the anger and desperation in the way he is literally trying to beat his way out of the car.  You can see the despair in his face, and in the way he seems close to tears.  You can hear it in the way his voice cracks.  This is Eggsy’s first real display of raw emotion since he walked away from Kingsman.  This is him reacting to having what was supposed to be his chance for catharsis taken away.  He is scraped open and raw, desperate and begging.  He’s in agony, and he’s either unwilling or unable to mask it in this moment.   

The thing I want to take note of here is that Eggsy consciously doesn’t slam the door.  We see when he gets out of the car that he’s still angry and upset (not nearly the level of emotional reaction he was having at the outset, but still), and yet he still has enough respect for Harry not to come into his house and slam his door. This is actually something that stuck out to me the very first time I watched the film, before I had even come close to falling into this hell hole of meta obsession that has consumed me.  I really had expected Eggsy to come in angry, to let the door slam shut, to be confrontational.  And the thing is, Eggsy is still feeling all of those things, as we see in his argument with Harry, but when he comes in here, he still makes sure to respect that this is Harry’s home.  He is resigned to a confrontation, perhaps even hungry for one(though, I suspect, less so for Harry’s impending disappointment), but he recognizes the gravity of the conversation they are going to have and refuses to start it off with a childish gesture such as a slammed door.

Eggsy is really angry about this.  He genuinely feels that the dog test is a moral event horizon, and he is angry, and offended, and betrayed that Harry crossed it.  I’m sure he’s also feeling more than a little betrayed that Harry expected him to do the same, even knowing him as well as he supposedly does.  Eggsy’s disdain here is so apparent, in his tone and his expression.  Especially the way his mouth falls after he stops talking, clamped tight in that way that just reads total disdain.  He is appalled, and he’s ready to have it out about this.  He clearly feels that Harry is in the wrong here, and he’s ready to fight about it. 

Okay, I really feel like Eggsy is going through a bit of a crisis here, not just about the actual content of the fight, but also in that he thinks he’s realizing that Harry is someone completely different than who he thought he was.  He is genuinely disturbed that Harry would shoot his pet and then also have it stuffed.  I think for him, this must come off as incredibly callous.  We already know that Eggsy has an innate compassion for animals (hello, he was prepared to go to jail for the sake of not running over a fox), so I think all of these events are probably compounding with Eggsy’s confusion to paint a very unflattering picture of Harry.  We all saw how enamored Eggsy was of Harry up until this point, so this must be fairly earth shattering for Eggsy, which I think reads in his face, and in his tone of voice/harsh words.

One thing I also want to point out, since I didn’t gif the exact moment when Harry told Eggsy it was a blank is that I really think, to Eggsy, something like shooting your dog is so serious, that he probably couldn’t really fathom that they would rig it not to be a genuine shooting.  Like, to him, it’s probably something that’s so off limits, it didn’t even occur to him that it might be a blank, or that the dog might not actually die.  I also think that, to him, even if it is a blank, the test is still emotionally traumatizing enough that he would feel it as a betrayal.  Like, it’s slightly less horrendous if it’s a blank, but it’s still depraved.  That’s why he doesn’t immediately crumple into forgiveness.  He stays angry, even after that explanation.  He still feels betrayed.

Eggsy takes his current pain and applies it to dredge up rage for a wound that he probably hasn’t really given himself a chance to address (like, ever).  He uses it to lash out at Harry, to try to strike at the heart of him and say the most terrible thing he can think of.  He reminds Harry that it’s his fault Lee Unwin is dead, and then drags their current argument into it by suggesting Harry might have had Lee stuffed as well.  Because Eggsy is accusing Harry of being callous enough that he wants to stuff and display things that died because of him (even though he now knows Mr. Pickle didn’t die in the dog test, I think Eggsy is still connecting the two on that front).   

Eggsy’s gaze here is really harshly accusatory.  He’s snarling while he’s talking (that’s what that curl of his upper lip is), even as his brow is pulled downward in sadness.  Honestly, I think Eggsy is experiencing this fight in a way he probably hasn’t experienced a fight before.  There is no one in his life who Eggsy has held accountable for their affect on his emotions until now.  He’s never had the sort of connection he has with Harry with anyone else, and now he probably feels like it’s slipping through his fingers, not only with their fight, but with his sudden shift in perception of Harry.  Eggsy has already lost so much today, and now he feels like he’s losing Harry, and he’s lashing out, the way you do when you’re new at fighting like this, with people you care about.  

Also, just if you’re interested, I had a discussion about this scene [here](http://turtlenovas.tumblr.com/post/135201747473/), and there are a couple of different really good interpretations of both Eggsy and Harry’s motives during this fight.  Definitely worth reading if you find this scene interesting and want some wildly different perspectives. 

Harry says, “Can’t you see that everything I’ve done has been about trying to repay him?” (in reference to Eggsy’s comment about Lee), and this is Eggsy’s reaction.  I think there are a few things going on here.  First off all, I think he’s conceding the point by not saying anything (acknowledging that he was out of line by offering no rebuttal).  Secondly, I think this is probably a really hurtful comment for him, and that’s why he purses his lips (to hold back on what he might want to say) and averts his gaze (although I think it’s also in combination with the fact that he’s maybe a little ashamed to have made such a vitriolic comment).  

I think for Eggsy, Harry saying that their whole relationship boils down to repaying Lee is probably devastating.  Eggsy is clearly more invested in their relationship than that, and I think hearing Harry imply that he is simply a debt to be repaid (even if it’s obviously not true) probably hurts like a bitch.  So he buttons up and doesn’t make eye contact anymore.  He withdraws, not wanting to give any more ammunition, or to say anything else he might regret.

In the time it’s taken Harry to talk to Merlin, Eggsy has decided that trying to salvage this, to repair things before Harry leaves is more important than anything else that has happened.  That, in and of itself, speaks volumes of how Eggsy approaches their relationship.  I actually don’t think for a second that Eggsy has accepted that the dog test is actually fine and he should’ve shot JB, even though it sort of comes off as the filmmakers maybe intending us to interpret it that way.  Rather, I think Eggsy is apologizing for his spectacular bungling of the fight itself.  As I said before, he is inexperienced with fighting like this with people he cares deeply for, so of course he fucked up, and I think, even if he doesn’t feel he was on the wrong side of the argument, he is acknowledging that he handled it incorrectly and hurtfully.  Also I think hearing Harry speak to Merlin and agree to leave on a mission immediately has upped his desperation to make amends.  He wants to fix it before Harry leaves (even though Harry kind of steamrolls that immediately), and he knows the fastest way to do that is simply to apologize.    

You can see in his face, all of the anger has disappeared, and now he is in full appeal mode.  He is sad and vulnerable, with his eyebrows drawn severely down, but very little tension about his eyes.  Also he’s fidgeting and shaking his head to reinforce the desperation, and it’s all further solidified by his tone of voice.

Okay, so I’m analyzing this scene, because even though he’s not technically with Harry, I look at this whole sequence as Eggsy interacting with Harry.  

I mean, this particular moment probably doesn’t require much analysis, but I think it’s worth noting how totally surprised Eggsy is.  Honestly, this harks back quite a bit to the scene in the hospital where Eggsy thought Harry blew up Professor Arnold’s head, only this time, there’s no doubt about the fact that Harry just shot a woman.  And so soon after giving Eggsy the speech about Kingsman’s policies on the risking of life.  Harry shooting this woman is in clear contradiction to everything he said to Eggsy before he left, and also in contradiction to everything Eggsy has come to believe of Harry.  

Eggsy’s shock here is incredibly poignant (particularly when you juxtapose it with his shock in the hospital scene, which was played for humor) and really sets the very serious tone for the rest of the scene, despite the rather upbeat presentation of the church scene.  Eggsy is meant to be a mirror for the audience’s reaction here, to show us how we’re supposed to be feeling about this emotionally (since we were all probably too busy being giddily blown away by the choreography of Harry’s fight).  We are meant to take the cue from him that this is something emotionally traumatizing, and that there is something distinctly wrong going on, despite all the coolness we’re seeing.  

As for his body language, again, he’s rather wearing his emotions on his sleeve, but look at the way he jumps, at the way his mouth drops completely open, at the way his brow furrows down (in contradiction to his surprise, showing us that this is also a pained reaction), if you want specific cues for the emotions I’m talking about.    

Okay, I left out several of the moments during the fight where Eggsy is recoiling squeamishly, because this meta is already very long, and I think this is probably the most important face he makes, as far as his relationship with Harry goes (if you don’t know - this is after the fight ends, when Harry is surveying the aftermath in horror).  I say that because, yes, Eggsy is squeamish, and he doesn’t like witnessing gratuitous violence, and he hates what Harry’s done, but all of that pales in comparison to this.  This moment, I think has nothing to do with the carnage, and everything to do with Eggsy hurting _for Harry_.  It’s fairly obvious, based on Harry’s unresponsiveness, and the reason he was there in the first place, that Harry was not in control, and I think Eggsy recognizes that for the horror that it is.  

Eggsy knows, as he’s seeing the wreckage through Harry’s eyes, that this is something that Harry will regret forever.  This is something that will haunt Harry, something from which he may never fully recover.  This face, this grimace filled with anguish and heartbreak isn’t for the people he’s looking at.  It’s for the man who’s eyes he’s looking through.  Eggsy, as we’ve seen many times over, cares deeply for Harry, and this is him realizing that Harry has just been stripped of his free will and used as a weapon.  This is him acknowledging that such an event is likely in the pantheon of Harry’s worst nightmares.  This is Eggsy watching someone he loves awakening from an ordeal of torture.   

I saw someone in the fandom (I can’t remember who, or even if it was a fic, or a gifset, or just a text post or what T_T) musing once about Eggsy’s reaction to the aftermath of this.  They were talking about how if Eggsy could choose, he would choose to take the pain of having lost control like that rather than choosing to bring Harry back from the dead (I think they phrased it like “erasing the sin, not the death” or something like that).  Even though I didn’t save the post or anything, the sentiment really stuck with me, and I want to point it out here, because I feel it really sums up the emotion we’re seeing in Eggsy in this moment.

I mean…what is there to say about this?  I included it because it’s extremely important.  But can I just…not talk about it? I’m not sure I can handle talking about this level of pain on my beautiful honey bee son.  I’m not sure I want to talk about him being completely blindsided by the death of a man that he loves, as he sits watching on a computer, thousands of miles away, helpless even to check the body.  I don’t want to talk about how he is in Harry’s house, in Harry’s office, sitting in Harry’s chair, on Harry’s computer (encrypted with Harry’s password), waiting for Harry to come _home to him_ , so that they can fix things, and he’s just had everything he is leaning on ripped out from under him in the space of a single second.  I don’t even want to think about the fact that he saw Harry’s death through Harry’s own eyes.  How he was sitting there, tense, attention rapt on the screen, waiting for the escalation, but never dreaming that it would be this.  Never dreaming that he would lose the man who changed his life completely, simply by believing in him.  The man who gave him the opportunity to be who he wanted to be, gave him the tools to achieve his dreams, gave him the care and attention to better himself without changing the things that make him who he is.    

Let’s just not talk about how we now know what it looks like when Eggsy’s world shatters.  Let’s not think about the fact that we know the shape of his face when he experiences a total shift in his universe.  Let’s not even think about the fact that, after this, Eggsy never left Harry’s house, and that he will forever be stuck in this limbo of waiting for Harry to come home and fix things, even though he knows Harry’s never coming back.

Let’s just not.

Oh look, more things I don’t want to talk about.  Eggsy slamming the laptop shut almost violently, hurling himself away from the screen, like cutting of the feed and distancing himself from it will make what he’s seen any less true.  He’s angry and distraught, and he has no recourse to pursue, so he takes it out on the laptop.  Then he recoils and goes still, breathing hard, tears clearly in his eyes.  This is Eggsy broken, unable to figure out what to do about it.    

Now he’s looking around the room, and he’s surrounded by Harry, face to face with hundreds of reminders of Harry’s accomplishments, of missions that didn’t end with Harry dead on the pavement a world away.  He’s helpless and overwhelmed, he’s shut the computer, hurled himself backwards and away from it, yet here he is, still surrounded by reminders of what just happened.  There is no escape for him in this room (in this house, in this life).  

Also, another gif that I didn’t include, is Eggsy taking a drink in Harry’s dining room and sitting in Harry’s chair.  I can’t remember why I left it out, but see [here](http://taroneqerton.co.vu/post/127180442104/ive-always-felt-something-strange-with-the-scene) for some great analysis of that scene (not mine, but I agree with everything there).

I just want to remind everyone that the last time Eggsy saw Arthur was the dog test.  Eggsy is once again putting aside myriad personal reasons not to trust Arthur in favor of doing what he feels needs to be done, for the sake of Kingsman, for the sake of the world, and for Harry’s sake.  Eggsy can’t think of anywhere else to turn to deal with the situation, so he goes to Arthur, to report Harry’s death, and to report Valentine’s actions.

This is Eggsy saying, “Well then you know what that psycho’s doing.”   He is so defeated here.  He’s utterly lacking in his usual energy, his usual conviction.  He clearly doesn’t have the energy for anything beyond this level of emotional reaction to Arthur.  His face here (especially in conjunction with his tone), and his little hand wave both speak pretty clearly of incredulity.  Eggsy can’t believe that Arthur knows what’s up and is doing nothing.  He’s confused by the lack of response here.  He’s put off about it, he’s angry about it, even though his affect is very flat and his energy is low.  He’s grieving, but he’s really trying to do the right thing here, to make sure Valentine is stopped, to make sure Harry is avenged.  Yet, here is Arthur, seemingly doing nothing.   

Now he picks up a small bit of energy, explaining to Arthur the possible ramifications of Valentine’s plan, reiterating to him the sheer scope of what’s happening.  He is genuinely trying to convince Arthur that action must be taken, as though Arthur may not be fully aware of the scale of things.  It’s painful that Eggsy still has faith in Arthur at this point, despite Arthur’s  constant disparaging attitude towards him.  He really thinks that, if he can just explain it right, Arthur will hop on board and take action.  He cares so much about stopping this threat, about doing the right thing, he’s come to a man he has every reason to detest for help, and even in the face of that man doing nothing, is still trying to convince him otherwise.  Eggsy is beautiful.

Arthur gives a relatively believable explanation of why Kingsman isn’t taking action, and we can see as Eggsy’s face falls further and further (this is when Eggsy says, “That’s it then?”).  He’s clearly sad here, but also his expression is almost dead.  He came here hoping for some sort of action to take, some way to cope through doing.  He wanted Arthur to give him a task, to say, “Yes, Harry is dead, here is what we are doing about it, here is what you can do about it.”  Instead, he has been told that what they will be doing about it is nothing, and you can see the death of his hope welling up in him, overtaking his face.  This is resignation, and sadness, and hopelessness.  This is exhaustion, and numbness.  This is the kind of trauma that we don’t often see depicted (particularly in this type of movie), because it’s much more obvious to watch someone scream and cry.  

This is what happens when you’ve exhausted all of those more noisy emotions, when all the avenues you can think of for recourse against the situation have been erased, when the powerlessness rises up in you and reminds you that, despite any effort you are willing to make, the fact of the matter is, your loved one is dead, and there is nothing you can do about it.  Anyone who has lost someone can recognize this feeling, and I think it’s desperately important that we saw this in Eggsy (before the next few moments, when suddenly he was given back his chance to do something about it).

Eggsy’s energy returns as he suddenly realizes that he does have the power to take vengeance for Harry.  Arthur has a scar behind his ear.  Arthur is compromised.  Arthur most likely _directly at fault_ for Harry’s death, and as we see Eggsy make this realization, we also see the life return to him, in the form of rage.  It’s not captured at all in the gif, so I really recommend checking it out in the film if you are able (time stamp is somewhere around 1:27:00 or so).  Eggsy’s face goes from resigned, almost dead, to this extremely potent, tight, controlled and vibrant expression of realization and rage, all within the space of about a second.  Honestly, when I first watched this film, not paying extremely close attention, I thought Taron was good.  After reviewing it several times, and watching closely, I can safely say, Taron is fucking phenomenal.

This transformation of expression was spectacular, and satisfying, and utterly unsettling.  His expression barely changes at all, and yet we can feel the universe shifting around us as his head is tilting.  Whereas before, Eggsy was loose with exhaustion and surrender, in this moment, his energy returns in the form of tension.  Again I point out, his expression remains almost acutely the same, but with the injection of tension into his body and face, as well as that movement of his head, his emotions are startlingly clear.  The clench of his jaw, and the tightness in his brow, despite barely moving a muscle, are very apparent, and the way he tilts his head to the light adds an intensity to his eyes that we might have missed, otherwise (again, that is a Taron thing, not an Eggsy thing, done for the benefit of the audience).

This moment is less important, I think, than some of the others in this scene (from the perspective of this meta), but I wanted to put it in because I love that Arthur’s downfall is going to be Eggsy’s roots.  Like, Arthur has such disdain for Eggsy as a person, for the way Eggsy grew up, for where Eggsy comes from, and looky here, those things, those skills Eggsy learned _before_ Kingsman, are going to be what brings Arthur the fuck down.  What a great bit of poetic justice.  What a beautiful fuck you to Sir Arthur Snobbington, Duke of Snobsville.  I love it.  

Also, I really love how calm and collected Eggsy is, despite his rather earth shattering realization.  This moment is why Eggsy will make an incredible Kingsman.  He is quick thinking, he realizes in the space of about two seconds that Arthur is a traitor, and it occurs to him that he ought to protect himself, just in case.  Of course, at this point, he has no way of knowing for sure that Arthur is going to try to kill him, but he is quick enough on his feet to prepare for that eventuality anyways.  Street smart badass extraordinaire. 

  


Lol well, if there were ever such a thing as “rage toasting”, I think this is it.  The way his voice drops almost an entire fucking octave is kind of hilarious, as is the way he just fucking chugs that fancy ass liquor down, and the curl of his lip.  Like, babe, your murder is showing.  Although, I suppose at this point, he doesn’t really give a shit if his murder is showing, and is starting to actively attempt to goad Arthur into revealing himself (as becomes even more clear in the next few gifs).  

Oh my god, look at what a snarky lil shit he’s being.  I love him.  Also, this is a good demonstration of his bravado mode, only it’s not Arthur he is protecting himself from here, it’s his grief.  In this case, he isn’t genuinely afraid of something and using snark to cover it up, he’s simply unable to cope with his current emotions, and is choosing instead to focus on his revenge in a way that allows him to exercise that snark muscle. 

Just look at his little shoulder shuffle, his eyebrow waggle, his closed mouth frown.  All of this is just screaming disrespectful challenge.  You don’t even have to be watching it to hear his tone of voice (or maybe you do, and I’ve just seen it too many times).  Also, the direct eye contact he’s making.  Everything about him right now is screaming “challenge”.  He _wants_ to pick a fight with Arthur, wants to make him reveal himself so that Eggsy can take his fucking vengeance.  He is alive with the thought of avenging Harry.

Hello murder eyes, nice to see you.  Jesus, just look at Eggsy’s hooded eyes here, at the way he’s sitting so still except his eyes following Arthur’s movements.  Eggsy is legitimately the personification of controlled anger in this scene, and I love it.  He knows what’s happening, and as much as Arthur doesn’t realize it, Eggsy is in total control of this situation. How cathartic this must be for Eggsy, to be able to sit in that chair and watch his revenge unfold before him, spurred on almost entirely by Arthur’s own hubris.  Nothing will ever ease the pain of Eggsy’s loss (and I think we see pretty well from the end of the film, and also the deleted scenes that show him living in Harry’s house post film that he is truly stuck in limbo), but here, he is taking a chance for at least a momentary reprieve from his grief, and it’s honestly beautiful.

SO ANGRY.  SO SNARKY.  SO PLEASED HE IS LURING ARTHUR INTO THIS TRAP WHEN ARTHUR THINKS HE HAS DONE THE SAME TO EGGSY.

I just really adore that this is what vengeful Eggsy looks like.  It just fits _so well_ with everything else we’ve seen of Eggsy.  We have always known that Eggsy is a mischievous person, that he takes pleasure in being a bit cheeky in many circumstances.  This is just that personality trait, augmented with anger and taken up to 11.  This is how he masks his grief when given the opportunity to take action, and it’s just…so in character and delightful (while also more than a little depressing). 

(This is him saying, “I’d rather be with Harry, thanks,” when Arthur offers him a place in the new world.)

I love this because Eggsy is achieving two completely separate things here.  Firstly: He’s directly acknowledging his feelings for Harry (in pretty much the only way we can hope to get in a movie like this, let’s be real).  Secondly: He’s goading Arthur into tripping his trap.  

I love this because, while yes, he’s being totally snarky, and you can see that in the curl of his lip and in the raise of his brow when he says, “Thanks,” (and you can hear it in his tone of voice as well), the amount of venom when he says, “I’d rather be with Harry,” speaks to hard truth.  He’s not lying for the sake of the game here, he’s not obfuscating for the sake of the trap.  He knows Arthur is going to trigger that poison no matter how he phrases his rejection.  Him saying it that way, in that tone of voice, with that vicious expression, all points to it being an acknowledgement of a truth.  Eggsy would rather be with Harry.  That’s it.  The end.  That’s what he wants.  He’s not going to get it, so instead he’s going to take revenge and save the world, but this is him saying and acknowledging that fact in the only way he is able at this time.

HE IS SUCH A LITTLE SHIT OH MY GOD.  As much as I’ve been waxing poetic about his emotional depth all this time, let’s just take a moment to appreciate his A level little shittery.  He’s such a fucking tool bag.  I love him so much.  Oh my fucking god.  He literally looks at his tummy and then looks at Arthur like, “Oh.  Oh no.  It looks like I’m not poisoned after all.  Whoopsy daisy!”

Like, oh my fucking god.  I’m not going to analyze it.  I’m just going to laugh hysterically for 15 minutes and you guys can fill in your own analysis. 

Okay, so the body language analysis continues to be pretty much the same: Eggsy is King Snarklord, Master of the Snarkiverse.  That said, I love that this is finally his moment to arraign Arthur for the constant and unrelenting disdain for Eggsy as a “common type”.  This is, for me as a viewer, I think probably one of the more rewarding moments of the film.  Not because Arthur is being murdered, but rather because Eggsy is finally able to stand up for himself, for his past, for his identity, for everything he has been told by this man to feel ashamed of.  As Arthur is dying, slain by his own arrogance, and Eggsy’s lowborn sleight of hand, Eggsy is finally able to look at Arthur and say, “You were wrong about me not being worthy.  You’re dying because you couldn’t see the value in me, and I used that against you.  You’re dying because of skills I had before your organization and ideals were even a twinkle in my eye.  I am worthy, and it is your downfall.” 

How fucking cathartic and wonderful is that?  Amazing.

The inclusion of this moment is my gift to you.  There’s not a whole lot to say about it, except jfc _look at him_.  This is Eggsy as murder incarnate.  This is Eggsy taking up the mantle of avenging angel.  This is Eggsy stalking and taunting prey that has truly earned the torture.  He is stillness and control, he is death, he is pain, he is anger, he is justice, all hammered into this one movement, this one expression, this one meaningless turn of phrase.  

This is the genesis of an Eggsy we have yet to see in the film.  Up until now, he has been patently and uncompromisingly compassionate, gentle, and softhearted.  Now, though, we have found his breaking point.  We have spent the entire film watching Eggsy be pushed beyond any reasonable limit, and only just in this moment have we discovered the point of metamorphosis.  

Take Harry from him, and then have him discover it was caused by a man they both trusted (a man Eggsy had to _work his ass off_ to learn to trust).  That is the key to Eggsy Unwin’s rebirth as a vengeful being.  That is the slaughter of Eggsy’s endless empathy and compassion.  That is how you create the Eggsy that will go on to kill hundreds (probably thousands) of people without remorse, and in this scene, we have witnessed his birth.

Okay, but having said all that, he’s still a fuckin’ cinnamon roll.  Look at him.  He’s brought the phone with the V-Day countdown on it to Merlin and Roxy, and Roxy is holding a gun on him.  I think it says a lot about Eggsy’s character that, even after such a dramatic shift in his personality, the shift _only_ applies to people that he feels are deserving.  As much as he is 100% a threat now, he is still intent that he should not be perceived as a threat to the people he still trusts and cares about (also, he isn’t a threat to them).  So he stands there, with his hands in the air, shifting on his feet, and despite the urgency he’s feeling, he waits for them to make the decision to trust him.  He knows he’s trustworthy, and he knows they will make the right choice, so he waits. 

Again, Eggsy is perfectly prepared to concede to Merlin and Roxy’s decision.  He doesn’t ask, “What are we gonna do?”, he asks, “What are you gonna do?”  

Even after just having been through the situation with Arthur, Eggsy still trusts that Merlin and Roxy will handle this appropriately, and he is ready to let them do it without a fuss.  With Arthur, it was clear that he was looking for a participatory role, but now that he has been able to take an action of vengeance, and he is with people he genuinely trusts (and knows he has reason to trust), he is willing to take a back seat. 

Of course, that being said, he’s still _hopeful_ he’ll get to help out, as is made pretty apparent by his face here.  Merlin says, “No choice, we’re gonna have to deal with this ourselves,” and Eggsy kind of looks around, shifting on his feet and checking in with Roxy, as if to confirm that Merlin is actually including him in that “we”.  I love this, because it shows that, even though just a moment ago, Roxy was holding a gun on him, Eggsy is still willing to look to her for confirmation and reassurance.  Their friendship comes first, and always has.  He knows that her holding a gun on him was simply part of her job, and he won’t hold it against her in any way.  Honestly, their friendship is really beautiful.  

Also, I don’t want to brush over his implicit trust in Merlin, here.  There’s no specific spot in these gifs to really point it out, but he _chose_ to bring this to Merlin.  Of everyone in Kingsman, Merlin is the one he thought he could definitely trust.  I think that also is a really good payoff for that rather tumultuous development of their relationship that we saw.  

OKAY, HE’S NOT INTERACTING WITH ANYONE HERE.

I ADMIT I ONLY INCLUDED THIS BECAUSE HE’S HILARIOUSLY PLAYING WITH A PHALLIC OBJECT.

YOU’VE FOUND ME OUT.  I’M SECRETLY 12 YEARS OLD.

BYE.

~~Look how fucking cute he is though, omfg.~~

Eggsy listening very intently as Merlin is examining the head chip.  I like this as another example of Eggsy’s very active listening when he wants to learn and gather information (referring back to what I was talking about with Eggsy and Harry in fitting room 3).  I also want note his casual posture, just because I really love how much trust he and Merlin have in each other for this leg of the film.  It took them a lot to get here, but it’s just so damn rewarding to see.  Nice nice nice.

Okay, I talked about this scene in another meta ([here](http://turtlenovas.tumblr.com/post/134721669155/so-earlier-when-i-was-writing-my-post-about-eggsy)), but this is another one that’s so important that I’m going to copy and paste it, and force you to read it here:  
  
“I love this scene because it once again highlights Eggsy’s ability to ignore giant, obvious, gaping opportunities for resentment.  Roxy’s just held a gun on him, but he doesn’t care.  He understands why she did it.  She’s still his friend, and she’s in need of encouragement.  He knows she’s gonna do what she needs to do, and he wants her to go up there knowing it, too.  He has no doubt of her skills, and an endless desire to comfort her.  Then, he’s gonna leave to do his part, and he’s not going to worry about that satellite, because he knows how competent she is.  He’s just going to be proud as hell when she gets it done.  Because that’s what friends do.  Their friendship is honestly really beautiful, and as I said, it’s one of the best recurring examples of his love and respect for women.” 

With that said, for this meta, let’s also talk about his specific body language.  He is once again reaching out to physically comfort Roxy by taking her hands.  He knows that she takes comfort from tactile interaction, so he ensures that she has that for as long as physically possible, even going up on his tippy toes to keep holding on just that little bit longer.  Also, he is once again making earnest, encouraging eye contact with her to reinforce his point.  Lastly, he’s doing all this in temperatures that are likely massively below freezing, wearing clothes that are more appropriate for a mildly chilly day.  He is putting her comfort first here, and that’s lovely.

Oh boy, cute lil incredulous, insecure baby.  Merlin’s just told him he’s getting in on Arthur’s invitation, and this is his reaction.  I also want to take note, his accent is very heavy when he says this (He actually says “Arfur”), which I think is meant to reinforce his insecurity to Merlin, like a reminder that Eggsy is totally Not Posh.  I included this because it shows that Eggsy is now comfortable enough with Merlin to show his worry without using one of his defense mechanisms.  

RELATIONSHIP DEVELOPMENT

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ 

Um, I appear to have chopped a few things together into this gif, and I’m not really sure which moment I was going for lmfao. XD So, I’m just gonna go with the two things I spliced together:  Eggsy asking, “What about you?”, and Eggsy asking if the suit will fit.

So, first of all, I think it’s pretty fucking cute the way Eggsy asks, “What about you?”  The nuance is almost entirely in his tone of voice (timestamp is around 1:34:28 or so), but he sounds so lost and unsure, like he really doesn’t want to do it without Merlin there, and that’s adorable.  As for the suit…I dunno, he’s being skeptical.  I don’t know.  This gif is just more of their relationship clearly having evolved into one of mutual trust and reliance.  Bye.

Okay, I’m not really sure why I had that last gif in there instead of one of Eggsy looking at himself in the mirror (and seeing Harry reflected back at him tbh), but it’s too late now, c’est la vie.  Let’s talk about what a fucking peacock Eggsy is here.

This is the moment when he really starts to emulate Harry.  I think putting the suit on (the suit that is almost exactly the same as Harry’s) was really the catalyst for him to take on the persona of Harry (if somewhat camper).  I mean, let’s be honest, Harry is the most peacocky peacock of them all, so it’s no surprise that Eggsy comes out, basically dressed as the man, and has his chest puffed out like that, and that prideful smile on his face.  He is pleased to take on Harry’s persona.  He can’t afford to try to cope with his emotions in any way whatsoever right now, so instead he is becoming someone else (becoming the man he lost, keeping him alive a little longer in the only way he knows how).  It’s no coincidence that this is the point after Harry’s death that we see Eggsy becoming less subdued (I’m not counting the rage energy he had with Arthur, that was part of the grief) - it’s because in this moment, Eggsy is literally stepping outside of himself and putting on another man’s identity.   

OKAY THIS JUST FURTHER REINFORCES MY POINT.  I have not seen Trading Places, but I did see a gifset comparing this to a scene in that movie with THE EXACT SAME DIALOGUE WHAT THE FUCK.  So not only did Eggsy watch Trading Places (because of COURSE he did, this lovesick little puppy), but now that he is wearing his Harry personality, he is going to make references to the media that he associates with Harry.  This may not be a callback Harry would’ve made, but again, Eggsy is playing “camp, Eggsy-goggles Harry” as opposed to a truly accurate method version of him.

I mean, I know this moment is supposed to be victorious for us, and like, we’re supposed to love Eggsy in the suit and be like, “Yessss!  He’s finally achieving what he worked for!!” But all I can see here is a man trying desperately to cope with his loss, and taking his usual bravado defense mechanism to an entirely new plane of existence.  Like, sure it’s somewhat pleasing to see Eggsy finally taking up the mantle he’s trained so hard for, but I would’ve loved it a lot more, and found it much less depressing, if we could have seen him do it _as himself_ , instead of the Eggsy that is stuck in the denial/grief limbo (especially considering we see at the end of the film, and in the deleted scenes that he has yet to pull himself out of said limbo, even after some time has passed).

LOLLLLLLLLLL  Harry!Eggsy is cheeky as fuck. xD I love him teasing Merlin like this, being a little shit when Merlin can’t do anything about it.  Even though I do still feel that undercurrent of sadness in the face of _why_ Eggsy is behaving the way he is, I can still appreciate that some of his genuine humor shows through.  He is so over the top here, it’s desperately apparent to the audience (and to Merlin) that he is satirizing the upper class.  I love that this is something so ingrained in him, he is still going to do it, even when he’s a bit dissociated.  I think his dissociated state kind of gives him carte blanche to be humorous and cheeky when he might otherwise feel incapable of that sort of emotion at this juncture.  (Also, I do think this is the type of hilarity that Harry would 100% approve of and participate in, so it does still fit in with the “Eggsy is emulating Harry” theory.)

THAT FUCKING WINK.  FUCK OFF.  WHAT A CHEEKY LIL SHIT.  OH MY GOD.  I LOVE HIM SO MUCH.  AM I GONNA ANALYZE THIS?  FUCKING NO I AM NOT.  THIS IS HERE FOR US TO ENJOY.  THAT’S IT.  

He and Merlin are bona fide friends now, and that combined with the fact that Merlin and Harry were always bona fide friends, and Eggsy is playing Harry, has given Eggsy the confidence to pull this shit without fear of retribution (or at least, not serious retribution).  Also, Eggsy’s a cutie.  Bye.

  


Um, looking back, I’m not really sure why I felt the need to put this gif in?  But, I mean, now that it’s here, let’s just all take a moment to observe and enjoy our sweet Egg son collapsing into a chair.  

Yes.

Beautiful.

Lmao, “Let’s get the fuck out of here.”  He’s so gesticulative and over the top.  It’s both endearing and hilarious.  I guess I could also point out that he’s maintaining that bravado pretty hard, even now that he thinks they’re on their way out.  I hesitate to assign any real significance though, as I’d argue that the majority of this stuff in the mountain base is fueled by an incredible adrenaline high (and also that new personality Eggsy is wearing to keep from having to acknowledge his grief).  

Still, I like that he’s being cute (okay, maybe not cute, but _I_ think he’s cute) with Merlin.

Then Merlin tells him he has to go back in and this is his response (”Are you taking the fucking piss?”).  More gesticulation, and sweet son totally doesn’t want to go back in there (I mean, who would?).  Also, I like that he’s maintained his panting.  It’s realistic that he stays out of breath this long, and a lot of the times, actors go for a second or two and then are fully recovered.  Taron did very well carrying it through this whole scene.  I mean, none of that is really here or there for this meta, but I wasn’t kidding about not having much analysis for some of these.  Mostly, let’s just look at Eggsy.  Look and enjoy.  That’s what this gif is here for.  

Cute little suit wearing dorito bird.  I love how he really has to heave himself out of the chair.  Like, again, this isn’t really related to his body language with Merlin, but I do think Taron did a really lovely job showing that Eggsy is pretty physically exhausted already, and that he is pumping on adrenaline.  His reluctance to go back out there is clear, but he still gets up to go do it, because he knows no one else can or will. 

Eggsy looking at the plane’s mobile armory and then back to Merlin and smirking.  They are totally fucking bonding over weaponry, and that is my jam.  Please let Eggsy and Merlin be weaponry bros in the sequel (preferably with an Eggsy that has coped with Harry’s death enough to learn to be himself again while keeping Harry’s memory alive in other ways - at least until Harry wakes up from his nap and tells them all he’s alive).  That would be awesome, okay?  Also, I like to think Eggsy is very pleased here about seeing a rainmaker.  That is some A+ equipment for his Harry cosplay, tbh.   

Eeee!!!! SHOWDOWN WITH GAZELLE IS FINALLY COMING TO PASS.  I suppose the important thing is that Eggsy is immediately put on the defense in this moment.  I think he’s probably genuinely scared of Gazelle here, especially if we throw back to his behavior when they met in the tailor’s shop - I know I said he really wanted to fight her, but there was also a healthy dose of fear permeating that scene, and I think it’s reflected back in his face when he catches sight of her smashing through that glass, descending on him like some sort of seraph of battle.  Honestly, the imagery of this scene is so great, I’m kind of sad I didn’t include Gazelle in the gif (but keeping her in made it too big).  I think what we’re supposed to get from this moment (combined with his physical exhaustion already being so apparent on the plane) is that, to Eggsy, this fight is in no way a given.  

We, the audience, know that he will win, because this is a campy spy movie, and it has a formula to follow.  Eggsy Unwin, exhausted rookie agent with the weight of the literal world on his shoulders knows no such thing, and in this moment, he’s scared.

(Also, if you’re not sure what I’m looking at to decide he’s afraid - it’s mostly his extremely wide eyes and the fact that he’s basically frozen until she starts shooting at him and jumpstarts his fight or flight response.) 

Now he knows he got her, so he can take a moment to be a fucking dumbass and scowl about his tie (which, I suppose, is probably outrageously expensive, and also exactly like Harry’s tie, so maybe it’s not a total dumbass move).  Also this is probably him stalling long enough for the poison to kick in, because he’s savvy enough, and respects Gazelle’s prowess enough to know she can still kill him as long as she’s standing. 

SNARKY MURDER SON STRIKES AGAIN.  Jesus but he has no fucking remorse.  It’s so…unusual for a character like him, and again I think, even though this particular moment isn’t meant to evoke negative feelings in us, it really reiterates the impact that Harry’s death had on him.  I mean, we spent the entire first 2/3-¾ of the movie having it hammered into us that Eggsy is rather softhearted, and that he is uncomfortable around violence (he can handle it, but he doesn’t exalt in it or enjoy it).  Yet, for the three murders he perpetrates that have direct significance in relation to Harry’s death (Arthur, Gazelle, and Valentine), we see him being distinctly pleased, and even behaving lightheartedly about it.  (All of the minions he kills, he is pretty neutral about - they were a game of survival, kill or be killed.  We don’t see him enjoying himself while wiping them out, merely doing what he must to survive.) 

I just think that says so much about how deeply affected he is.  It takes a lot to change an ingrained part of someone’s personality, especially someone with as much integrity as Eggsy has.  So yeah, this moment is the heroic triumph moment, and we’re supposed to feel good about it, and be happy with Eggsy being all suave and snarky, but to me, it just reeks of how broken he is.

I know in this moment, Eggsy was basically going for the quickest method he could find to kill Valentine and stop the violence wave, but I don’t think it was a mistake (on the part of the filmmakers) that the method available to him was something so visceral.  He literally rips Gazelle’s leg off of her corpse and hurls it like a javelin at Valentine’s exposed back.  There are so many layers of fucked up in that, and it’s really apparent in his face (and his guttural shout) also that the whole thing is an expression of rage.  Eggsy isn’t just killing Valentine for the sake of saving the world, he’s killing Valentine for the sake of slaking his own fury.

Two things: 

One: My smart son came over to check the body, and that’s how we know Harry’s coming back and Valentine isn’t.  (No one bothered to check Harry’s corpse, ok?)

Two:  “It’s like you said to Harry.”  He is making sure Valentine knows, without a shadow of a doubt, that he is currently dying, not because he tried to raze the world, but because he took Harry away from Eggsy.  Honestly, I think at this point, saving the world was a bonus for Eggsy.  There is a reason we saw him delight in only three of the countless murders he perpetrated through the last leg of the film.  For Eggsy, this was, and will always be about Harry’s death.  The rest of the world will remember this day as the one where all of Earth went mad, but Eggsy will remember this day as the one where Harry was killed and he took vengeance.  Eggsy is forcing Valentine to acknowledge that.  I actually think it’s totally possible that, had Eggsy not been in the state of trauma he is in here, he may have been willing (and possibly even preferred) to take Valentine prisoner, but instead we got this.

This one is even further reinforcement of what I said in the last gif.  He’s mimicking Valentine’s taunt to Harry right back at him, rubbing it even further in that this is why Valentine is going to die.  Also, he’s taking a lot of pleasure in doing it.  Eggsy is not a cruel man.  If anything, he is the antithesis of cruelty, but in this moment (and the few others I’ve mentioned), we see that he’s capable of it, when he’s pushed too far.  

Lol, it still blows my mind that, after everything we saw Eggsy go through, and after all the little hints we got about his past, it was losing Harry that pushed him to this place, that changed him like this.  I genuinely do not understand how anyone who is paying attention while watching this film can not ship it.  I’m just…it’s so real. xD  

Okay, so since I want to end on an optimistic note, I’m gonna talk about this here:  Some amount of time has clearly passed since the end of the world (no idea how much, but Eggsy’s wounds have healed, so it’s at least been a week or two), and Eggsy is still in denial coping mode.  This scene is lovely and empowering and awesome, but it’s also incredibly depressing (especially combined with those deleted scenes we’ll never see of Eggsy living in Harry’s house post movie, wearing Harry’s clothes, etc, etc).  

Of course, Eggsy hasn’t completely turned his own personality off or anything, but he is clearly still playing a role, putting on an accent when he doesn’t need to, wearing clothes that look like Harry’s (instead of perhaps getting a suit in his own style, or even just replacing the tie with one of his own choosing, instead of a replicate of the one Harry chose for him), using Harry’s favored weapon (or maybe, more accurately, the one Eggsy associates most strongly with him), and, in a moment, literally replicating Harry’s exact speech and fight pattern.

I just wanted to point that out here, since I don’t want to end on that (even though it probably would go better with the last gif).

One other thing to think about is that Eggsy is also still using bravado to defend himself.  This gif specifically reeks of it. That head tilt, and the gesturing to himself.  Obviously he is confident, and he has the higher ground here for the first time, probably ever with Dean, but I think he’s still feeling defensive.  It’s easy to objectively know that he can finally feel confident, that he has the skills to win this fight, while still experiencing and reacting to a lifetime of conditioning to the contrary.  Also, I think he is definitely a little worried his mum will choose to stay with Dean, rather than take the opportunity he’s giving her.  So he goes extra over the top and brash with his attitude, to mask any vulnerability that may be trying to leak out through the cracks in the veneer he’s built up around himself.

Here he’s saying, “Comes with a lot of perks” (in reference to his new job).  Ostensibly, he’s speaking to his mother here, but if you pay attention, as he says this, his eyes slide over to Dean.  He is literally taunting Dean with the possibility that Eggsy and Michelle (and Daisy) could be self-sufficient without him.  He’s threatening Dean with the idea that Eggsy is finally able to take care of his family, and now Dean is obsolete.  And he does it all with just the tiniest bit of eye contact and a little bit of a smirk.  

Dean says, “Sit down, you,” to Eggsy’s mum, and suddenly, all his good will evaporates.  This boy has murder in his eyes, and he’s ready to take his pound of flesh for all those years of torment.  Dean’s just made a very large mistake by disrespecting Michelle in this situation.  Eggsy’s gonna fuck his shit up.

Mimicking Harry again, lulling these fuckers into a false sense of security by playing at leaving peacefully when the unsuspecting person who cares for them tells them they’re better off just going (in this case, Michelle has told Eggsy to go).  I mean, I think it’s pretty impossible not to enjoy this mirroring, not to enjoy the anticipation of Eggsy finally being able to stand up for himself, to achieve the one thing he has been working for his entire life.  This moment is literally the culmination of all Eggsy’s efforts.  It’s the resurrection of every broken dream he’s ever had.  It’s cathartic in a way that his killing of the villains was not (largely, I think, because, even as he’s wearing a mask, this is something we know is genuinely Eggsy’s wish).  

Also, as a Hartwin shipper, I love that he’s taking strength for this moment by inhabiting Harry.

You know, I think he really would’ve walked out of there if Dean had just stopped trying to provoke him.  Of course, I think he went looking for a fight, _hoping_ for a fight, but I think he was willing to let it go for another time, if Dean just kept his trap shut.  Fortunately for Eggsy, and for the audience, that’s not how Dean’s wired.

Look at how angry!pleased Eggsy is.  He’s almost snarling here, even though he’s smiling.  Like, this boy is jonesing for a fucking fight.  I love him so much.  

“One of these days, I’m gonna smash his face in.”

Prophecy fulfilled, Eggsy.  Congratulations.

 

 

That’s the end of part 10!  Congratulations! You made it through the entire thing!!!

Before we leave though, I just want to say thank you again to the people who have listened to me ranting and raving and generally losing my tenuous grasp on my sanity as I’ve worked my way towards finishing this.  Honestly, this has been incredibly difficult for me (writing is not _actually_ something I have done regularly for nearly a decade, despite what my previous meta barfs may have implied, so producing something of this magnitude has been a challenge), and I’m not sure I could’ve finished it if I hadn’t been able to go screaming into people’s message boxes about it. This fandom is really spectacular, and I’m so pleased to have stumbled into and met so many wonderful people who truly foster creativity and kindness in everyone around them.  <3  What a great group of people Kingsman fans are.  

Also, to anyone who read this, and who made it through the entire thing, thank you as well.  Y’all are champs.  I know this is long as fuck for a meta, so anyone who made it all the way through: you’re awesome, and I sincerely hope you enjoyed the ride. :)

Now I’m going to go cry in the corner for 15 years.  Peace out. 

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry if any parts went missing/any notes got left in. I just copy/pasted.


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